[dragonwriter]

> money and capitalism, which is inherently democratic by design in that many decisions contribute to the overall direction, rather than a single decision maker

No, that's not what “democratic” means. Its true that capitalism is inherently oligarchic rather than monarchic, because of the property you describe above (minus the improper reference to “democratic”) but that's...a far cry from democratic.

[_ddzr]

Whether or not capitalism can be classified as oligarchic or democratic, I would argue that capitalism has pervaded the world and is a stronger force at this point than any political system, ruler, or ideology. Redefining terms when it is convenient, without even providing a definition, I might add does not negate the fact that when many contribute that system can be classified as participatory rather then exclusive.

[dragonwriter]

> Whether or not capitalism can be classified as oligarchic or democratic, I would argue that capitalism has pervaded the world and is a stronger force at this point than any political system, ruler, or ideology.

Liberal capitalism is both a political (politico-economic) system and an ideology. It also peaked in its dominance of the developed “West” (an imprecise term by any geographic interpretation, due to exports and alignments and remnants of colonialism putting Western outposts all over the globw, but there's no really good alternative, either) a bit over 100 years ago, the modern politico-economic system that pervades the developed West is a hybrid of socialism and capitalism (“the modern mixed economy”) derived through a process of proletarian reaction against capitalism very similar to the early stages of motion away from feudalism toward capitalism through bourgeois reaction against feudalism (though much faster).

State capitalism is also a significant politico-economic system and ideology, though a different one than liberal capitalism, and arguably still on the upswing (state capitalist regimes, without any exceptions I am aware of, all borrow the rhetoric of class-participatory socialism, but have practical rule by a self-selected cadre that exercises power through, among other key levers, exclusive control of the means of production.)

[_ddzr]

Got it, so more a more exclusive control of capitalism is the big distinction unshackling Japan from colonialist structures. Groundbreaking.