Quote Originally Posted by jackolover View Post
Although it wasn't really capitalist harmony that caused all that, was it? It was Cold War insanity.
Perhaps, but capitalism is an echo of mercantilism. By its nature, it is not harmonious in the sense that all people work together for a common purpose. They actually pit subgroups against each other for personal advantage.

When capitalism behaves positively, the government acts more as a referee than a participant. During the Cold War, governments tended to act as participants (interjecting national goals into the system) which created the "insanity" you refer to.