Great post, in fact this is something that i have discussed with friends before as well.

To me capitalism by its very nature isnt democratic. Capitalism means that corporations need to work for the provider of capital, that is shareholder i.e. the rich. Every decision that the firm takes has to create more shareholder wealth. So whether it be to influence political decisions or kill the environment, shareholder wealth needs to be created by all means. And that is the problem. Decision making at companies isnt democratic. Its hierarchical and autocratic. There is no ethical decision making at companies and what is missing out from the performance assessment of ceos is how ethical were their decisions. There needs to additional rows in the appraisal documents that add the cost of ruining the environment, the cost of mass layoffs and the cost to society of running that business to truly assess profitability of a company and to make capitalism accountable.

Democracy unfortunately has also become the same. Political parties should be looking after the people who are voting for them, but they are also looking after the interests of those providing capital. Govt isnt a for profit organisation. It isnt answerable to wealthy corporations. If it continues to head this way, it will be a disaster. We are looking at a more automized world. That means more job losses and if the govt cant generate enough cash to support those that will lose jobs, worstcase, we are moving towards a civil war. Unfortunately out economists are thinking or acknowledging this. Most economic theory is ex post facto. Its never proactive. Our outdated economic theories arent accounting for new factors of production or automation.

I think the most important step to restore democracy or to keep this marriage of democracy and capitalism alive is to first break the corporate political nexus. Corporate funding has to be abolished and personal funding caps need to be put in place. Democracy needs to made honest. The election process needs to be simplified. X number of debates, media ban on election coverage. Both parties will run youtube channels to discuss what they intend to do with proper appraisals. Ban on lobbying. A lot needs to be done to end this nonsense.

Capitalism really needs to be ethical and accout of social costs into their profit model. Else they are making money and the world is losing out.