You're right, capitalism isn't the enemy. It's the managerial/careerist mentality. A commissar is indistinguishable from a business executive except his suit probably has a cheaper cut. After a long life of working for both business and government, and after a long consultation over a bottle of vodka with a Russian emigre engineer, we both came to the conclusion that they are of precisely the same mentality.

I have always respected the true entrepreneur who puts his fortune and reputation on the line to make something happen. Even if he's a crook at heart, at least he takes his lumps like a man when his enterprise heads south. It's the professional manager who follows the paycheck, who has more loyalty to his career than to his profession that I've always been contemptuous of. In this country, these people gravitate to the executive suites, be they private or public. In Communist countries, they join the Party.