Well, communism can't be "great" for several reasons, not the least of which is that it necessitates coercion. Of course, its track record is one of pain and destruction.
Communism is both political and economic. Capitalism is only economic, with no political (from a state perspective) control. They really can't be compared.
Capitalism does exist in pockets and "spheres" of influence. Sometimes these are underground. Sometimes it's just a local barter system.
That's the thing - capitalism is not a system. It's really the absence of one. It's human activity trading freely. We can do it in many ways, from trading coffee for a donut to bitcoin for a good or service. As long as we're doing so freely and without having to deal with outside coercion, control, taxation, regulation, etc., then it's capitalism.
In a lot of countries there are artisans who just ignore the government and tax system. They make their product and sell it without reporting anything. This would be capitalism too.
Some of our structure is capitalistic too. For instance, eBay is a great example. You can trade freely. Cgraigslist is a good example too - probably better than eBay. Then there are other sites like LocalBitcoins, where there really are no regulations at all, other than their escrow service.
If you're looking for a country that's capitalist then, yeah, it's harder to find than a needle in a haystack. But capitalism is a product of the pursuit of freedom. Wherever people strive to be free, there will be some vestiges of capitalism.
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See what I am trying to say is all political system ideologies have rational and probably good intentions, but in the long run they al evolve into the big guy eating the little guy.
By the way I have found the topic most interesting, thanks for posting.
It is a good discussion, especially when level headed. :) Thanks.
You're less cynical than I am about these ideologies. While I think so people embrace socialism for good reasons, I don't think anyone imposes it for anything but greed and power.
Everything is corrupted by greed though. There is no system that will keep that from happening. I think the question is more in regard to what's the best pursuit. In my mind, it's freedom. Let us defend ourselves and learn to watch out for those who would do us harm rather than depending upon over-regulation from tyrants to do it.