[quote=@Vilageidiotx]
 Through deregulation, we are sowing the next recession, and if it is as bad as the last one, god help us all.[/quote]

Insofar as growth is a necessary precursor to 'lack of growth,' sure. 

[quote]Industrialism certainly is.[/quote]

Just saying, "You didn't build that." Yeah, I get it, we should be careful about how we assign credit for all these wonderful things, but at the same time, the argument that capitalism has NOTHING to do with all these wonderful things is wholly unsupportable. Especially in light of all those command-economies in industrialized nations that failed miserably. Hypothetically, sure, we coulda got here without it in a thought experiment -- but we're here, and capitalism got us here.

[quote]My fear is that democracy is being slowly stifled by the needs of capitalism, and the inevitable result will be stagnation.[/quote]

All fears are valid, I suppose. Mine is that we're increasingly saying "fuck democracy, we'll just do it with administrative or judicial power." If anything is killing democracy, in my estimation, that's it.

[quote]Is it corrupt or is it not corrupt? You are waffling, sir.[/quote]

Not waffling. Pointing out that raw participation statistics in a free society (especially in a liberal democracy) don't mean what you are arguing. A basketball team can only manage to put five players on the court at a time, but soccer can put eleven. Is basketball FAILING? 

[quote]AntiFa would be patriotic if[/quote]

I'm gonna not, lol, this has been civil.

[quote]I suppose I can summarize my opinions on this thread in a statement; one of the dumbest things Marxists argue is that their philosophy will "End history", that they have the key to fixing every problem forever and always. I think the most alarming things coming from the capitalist apologist crowd nowadays is exactly that same thing. Capitalism has ended history. This is it. All of our current problems are not problems at all, but instead are the way things are supposed to be. 
[/quote]

My argument is simply "this is working." Communism never has, and with the RoboLabor Singularity right around the corner, I think it's pretty silly to switch from a winning horse to a losing horse in the middle of the race.