The heaven on earth that never came: The collapse of capitalist and communist mythologies

For over a century, capitalism and communism have been locked in an ideological war—each claiming to have discovered the unbreakable laws of economics. 

Capitalists extol the invisible hand of the free market, while communists swear by the iron logic of historical materialism. But beneath this clash lies a shared delusion: both claim the authority of physics, while peddling the theology of myth.

Neither ideology has ever existed in pure form. The United States, long hailed as a capitalist utopia, is in fact a sprawling bureaucracy propped up by public spending, subsidies, and corporate bailouts. Silicon Valley owes more to government-funded research than to libertarian genius. 

On the other side, the Soviet Union, the supposed model of command economy, had black markets, informal networks, and enterprise bartering—capitalist impulses simmering beneath a planned surface.

Every economy is a mixed economy. The idea of a "pure" market or a "perfect" plan is a fantasy for the intellectually devout but historically blind.

In truth, capitalism and communism were not just economic systems. They were post-Enlightenment mythologies—secular successors to religious eschatology. Where traditional religions promised paradise in the afterlife, these ideologies promised heaven on earth. Adam Smith and Karl Marx weren’t merely thinkers; they were prophets of rival utopias.

But instead of delivering salvation, both ended in ruin. Capitalism gave us inequality without justice; communism gave us equality without freedom. One built glass towers on the bones of the poor, the other constructed gulags in the name of progress. Both promised light but delivered shadow.

As the Western-led global order unravels, these grand economic doctrines are also losing their grip. The myths of capitalist meritocracy and communist emancipation are no longer shaping the future—they are being shelved with the discarded scriptures of older ages. Capitalism and communism are becoming the Olympus and Asgard of the modern world—abandoned heavens, echoing with broken promises.

Economics was never a hard science. It has always been politics in disguise—a contest over values, priorities, and power. The most influential economists in history were not abstract theorists but advisors to political leaders who dared to imagine and act. Keynes had Roosevelt; Friedman had Reagan. What mattered was not the model, but the moment—and the will to shape it.

“Economic law” is often just political preference with a PhD.

If there is a truth to be salvaged, it is this: There are no economic laws—only economic choices. And every choice is a mirror reflecting the soul of a society.

As the myths of capital and the plan fade into twilight, we may finally begin to ask better questions—not about how to obey economic laws, but about how to build just, humane, and adaptable systems rooted in lived realities, not ideological certainties.

Because in the end, economics doesn’t rule the world—power does. And the sooner we admit that, the better we can wield it.