If there were an easy solution that could be stated in a few sentences, we'd already be switching to that alternative. And what's really the point of speculating about abstract, theoretical solutions when we know the powers that be would prevent any alternative from emerging?

What I try to show, though, is that the true enemy here isn't capitalism but nature. We're at war with our natural impulses, trying to create something new and existentially honourable. Capitalism, socialism, communism, democracy, feudalism, monarchy, dictatorship, theocracy--all such systems end up degenerating into forms that channel default social structures in which power dynamics predominate.

What drives alternative social systems, though, isn't philosophical speculation as much as technological advancement. The internet may presently be doing so. A universal basic income might also be a welcome reform.

Equating capitalism with freedom seems to me facile. In theory, we're all free to compete in a capitalistic economy. In practice, there's no level playing field, and the most powerful players consolidate their power and reduce other people's freedom. Plus, true freedom in the existential sense is an awful prospect, and most people run from it, as Erich Fromm pointed out.

My point in this article isn't that we should reject capitalism. I'm pointing out the downside of what we take for granted.