The argument was "only communists try to solve OTHER people's problems for them and end up creating more problems for OTHER people than they started with"
I personally think communism caused mass starvations that killed millions are bad. If that makes me an evil capitalist, so be it. (As someone who has lived through one such micro famine in a socialist country, I feel I am entitled to that opinion.)
It's like comparing birds and mammals. You're telling us how producing milk for offspring will somehow make us lay eggs because they are both animal protein.
No, most people just want to fix some distortions. Just charge taxes on harmful behavior and you can fix a lot of issues without much government involvement.
In what universe are the western democracies experiencing "extreme capitalism"? This is a mind-boggling statement.
Just in the U.S.:
Government consumes 15% of GDP
FIRE is 20% of GDP
Healthcare is 20% of GDP
Education is 5% of GDP
But not really, because on the income side, Government spending is 44% of GDP (the difference between government spending and consumption is all the checks being mailed out). Private spending is basically only half. Thus half of all economic spending is being directed by politicians.
Extreme free market?
Moreover in the labor markets, we have an extremely regulated economy, in which 23% of US workers need a government license to legally do their job.
Extreme free market?