regarding the political aspect of this discussion:

People don't change when they are comfortable. They will barely seek change when they are uncomfortable. It isn't until people are in the middle of chaos that a whole society becomes willing to risk large scale change. Historically, revolutionaries and terrorists have used chaos and terror specifically to incite change.

Now, once you create widespread fear, discomfort and distrust, it is easy to replace the status quo with something else... a drowning man will grasp and hold onto anything he thinks might save him. Desperation doesn't differentiate between a floating log and an alligator

THAT is why the discussion of Capitalism vs Socialism keeps showing up. This experiment has been done before, at the turn of the century. Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.