I think capitalism has gotten a bad rap. The basic principle was developed by Gottfried Leibniz and was termed, "Physical Economy." The basic concept is that through the humancreative process and develop of technology, we have the ability to support ever higher levels of population at a higher standard of living. By increasing our "energy throughput" we can do more work with less effort and in a sense violate the laws of thermodynamics.

Any type of economic system is going to be susceptible to abuse, but we have seen that in a capitalistic society, the population has greater access to basic food needs, shelter, clothing, health care, and education. The idea is to produce what we need! The original idea of "capital" was the value of physical wealth. Today we think of capitalism as "money." Currency has no intrinsic wealth, it is just paper and ink. The real wealth is in the productive activity of society and our ability to sustain our current population, while at the same time providing a sound foundation for posterity.

This was the general principle of Hamilton's First Report on Public Credit.