end of another year and the end of Capitalism

well another year is coming to a close and boy what a year 2008 turned out to be.

This year we saw the stock market crash and along with it the economies of many countries are seeing a down turn.

I've notice a number of people looking at this bad news and declaring that this is a sign that capitalism doesn't work as an economic system and if capitalism isn't already dead it is soon to end.

Now I understand where some of these people are coming from but the truth is we are not facing the end of Capitalism.

The thing is that some of the people who are saying we are entering a post-Capitalism era fail to realize is the fact the Capitalism is a big umbrella term for economic trains of thought usually centered around the ideal that people own their capital (which includes their labor)

What I think many people really mean is that this is hopefully the end of certain trains of economic thoughts such as favoring policies that benefit large companies and wealthy people but are economically harmful for the average person or the ideal that the free market will solve all problems, ect.

or maybe they do realize this but also realize that stating that Capitalism is dead or ended draws much more attention then saying something more specific like "class is out on the Chicago school of economic theory" or that "Reaganomics is Dead"