> The stratification comes from primate brains, not capitalism. It remains even without capitalism, except no amount of effort gets you out of it in other systems.

I think you missed my point. I didn't say that our social values come from capitalism. Quite the opposite. I said that capitalism is nothing more than an amoral economic system. The problem is that we've imposed a bizarre ethical system on top of capitalism.

I suspect that this unholy alliance is a result of trying to reconcile capitalism with the dominant American religion, Christianity, which originally was vehemently anti-materialistic: Jesus himself was exceedingly clear about this. But eventually the self-sacrificial ethos of Christianity morphed into the Protestant work ethic, and wealth became God's earthly reward for "hard work".

> in America, even low level workers can wear a suit

Can, or must?

I personally don't want to wear a suit.