Capitalism has become one of the biggest scapegoats in human history.

The many versions of socialism and central planning have failed over and over, yet the results are often branded as lAtE sTaGe CaPiTaLiSm.

For one, there are no stages to capitalism. It either is or it isn't. There is no spectrum. It's binary. People are either free to transact without force or they aren't. Elements of capitalism are present in many systems, but none on earth today are capitalist. Calling them such is offensive to capitalism.

To be clear, I define capitalism as a system in which people are free to transact without force, with the only government intervention being to address force if it is used (fraud, theft, violence, property rights violations). As things are, governments are typically the largest perpetrators of force in economies. I think this is because almost no one understands what capitalism actually is or why it's necessary for human flourishing.