Probably the height of capitalism was in the cottage industry era. No one had to commute, and the means of production were individually owned, the local wealth formation concentrated wealth for the average local person/family.
(There was a time you could sell Gumbo directly out of your house, without any hoops.)
The way it works now, governments and corporations (or in the area of Communism, the term is 'firms') are all social constructs and form a type of socialism for the wealthy, mostly based on various forms of market capture.
I am very glad you made it out, and have a clear picture of what's going on.
http://romancingthevoters.org/?cat=76
A clear picture of a tool of what we have today and how it works.