Lassez-faire, free-market capitalism, it could well be argued, is the only true state of capitalism. All other forms could (and IMHO, SHOULD) be understood as variations and betrayals of that state. The United States began losing our free-market economy with the rise of the oil barons and there willingness to bay-off (even buy outright) U.S. Congressmen in their haste to extend pipelines over private property, squelch competition, set up a central bank, and to engage, unfettered (despite what the law may have said) in every conceivable type of restraint of trade and outright monopolistic practice.
What we have today could be rightfully described as a form of gentle fascism directed by an oligopoly of wealth. Fascism is essentially the control of the government for private economic purpose, OR (and where have you heard this before?) "private-public partnerships." Even the former public education system is well on its way now to becoming a fascist operation owned by the corporations, and their board-less operations will be enforced by the state which will still collect real estate taxes at the point of a gun (but now with no local oversight.)
The United States has a faux "democracy" as well, to line up and serve as the pressure-relief valve for the totally managed economy. Were the people to realize they are no longer participants in the governing of their nation, they would rise up in revolt, and so the trappings of "democracy" are carefully guarded, and the illusion maintained by the controlled press.
No, there is no real capitalism anywhere in the developed world, as a result of the greed and anti-competitive nature of our super wealth elites.
John D. Rockefeller, Sr. once proudly said "competition is a sin," and he meant it. In 1908 (the last time the family's fortune was made public) he was worth $3,000,000,000--which made him the richest man in the world at that time, AND THIS WAS BEFORE THE ADVENT OF THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE, LUBRICANTS, HEATING OIL, PLASTICS, PHARMACEUTICALS, ASPHALT, etc.,etc. In other words, he was already (five years before he and his compatriots forced through the Federal Reserve Act, the IRS, etc.) the richest man on the planet merely form the sale of kerosene to light oil lamps. Let that sink in for a minute and consider how much true (hidden) power the oilogopoly in America must have built up since that time!
After this, the family's (true influence over the U.S. government) wealth was never published again, and he hired former Baptist minister, Frederick T. Gates to oversea his bogus "philanthropy" operations to whitewash his crimes in the public's eye, and to give back 1/1000th of what he stole from the public via exorbitant monopolistic prices on his products, to socialist and leftist causes that he controlled. In other words, the Rockefellers also created the position of public relations director--and they needed to, as the word was getting out by 1910 that their power had become a serious threat to capitalism and the freedoms of Americans.
In 1911, their flagship "Standard Oil Company of New Jersey" was publicly "broken up" as a result of belated enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act. But, what really happened was that the oil empire was simply split up into the infamous "Seven Sisters" oil companies which were still controlled by the Rockefellers through interlocking Boards of Directors.
Since that time, several attempts have been made to delve into the monopoly's operations to try to restore capitalism, but Rockefeller agents in the Congress always found ways to squelch them and short-circuit these efforts. Perhaps the most famous attempt came during the 1950s with the Reece Commission hearings into the tax-exempt foundations (the foundation being another tool the elite set up to hide wealth and to move it, tax-exempt, to left-wing and globalist cause that they control) but this effort did not succeed in revising foundation law.
In short, capitalism died during the Gilded Age of the 1870s-1910s, and she was murdered by the robber barons. What we are left with are some thin trappings and a veneer of "capitalism," just as we are left with the thin veneer of a "democracy" to hide our Orwellian, fascist police/surveillance state.
I could argue with that some, but the truth is, we at least see the same 'trend line'. I will hopefully have a future article in this series that deals specifically with capitalism and democracy, causes and effects. I have extensive notes :)
Thanks for a straightforward and compelling comment.
You're welcome Tom. Thanks for yours as well.
I would refer you to anything written about the Rockefellers by Ida Tarbell (background on how they illegally monopolozied the oil trade) and by Dr. Emmanuel Josephson (on how they weaponized their money to seize the levers of power in the USA.)