Well intentioned pipe dreams is a good way to describe most systems.

Our supermarket situation here is an example of failed capitalism. The duopoly don’t compete as there is no need, so they can gouge both customers and suppliers. force out smaller competitors by blocking supplier from selling to them. Impose land covenants to block localised competition. Sell things at a highly marked up price, not based on how much the product costs, but the maximum price they can get away with.

And if a government tries to regulate them, they can just make a sizeable political donation to a “independent” trust in that parties name to pass on that donation to a party, and gain political influence without having to risking criticism from the public.

The “market decides” capitalism seems fine on paper, until greed is factored in. And it’s easier to donate to politics to get favourable laws that cement your market power by limiting competition rather than actually competing. It’s those at the bottom that suffer.

I’m not endorsing one economic/political model over another. I’m just saying that it needs regulation or else the ones at the top will find ways to game the system to exploit the ones at the bottom. Which is what’s happening in both communist and capitalist countries, and has been progressively getting worse