You make valid points, but I was discussing something different, namely that instead of always wanting more stuff, many people are voluntarily divesting themselves of things and choosing a simpler lifestyle. There is a growing tiny house movement, more and more people are growing their own food, corporate managers are leaving high paying (and high stress) jobs to become artists or bakers or chocolatiers or...
When comparing "capitalism" and "communism," I think it's important to recognize that the U.S. system is not capitalism and the old Soviet Union did not practice communism. What the USSR had was very much like the old czarist regime, and the KGB was like the old czarist spy system. And that regime in turn was an outgrowth of the old system used by the Mongol invaders. The US economic system...unfortunately too much of it reminds me of the seagulls in Finding Nemo, perched on something and saying, "Mine. Mine. Mine."
I believe that people want to work, to contribute, to be part of a community. And if they can't belong to the dominant community, they'll form their own. The black community came about because the white community wouldn't let the blacks play an equal part in society. Ditto the gay community.
Someone said that too many people would sit around playing video games all day. Maybe they would--for awhile. There was a Twilight Zone? episode, or maybe it was a short story. Anyway, a man dies and goes to a place where he's told his every need is met and he doesn't have to work. The man is delighted and revels in his freedom. After awhile, though, he gets bored and asks for something to do. He's told that, not only is he not required, he is not permitted to work. The man exclaims, "You call this Heaven? I'd rather be in the other place!" (or words to that effect), and he's told, " This is the other place."
