In economic terms the possible range is from laissez-faire capitalism through totalitarian communism. The U.S. economy is not a laissez-faire capitalism but rather a mixed economic system. The collapse of communism was remarkable. The conflict between capitalism and communism lasted 75 years from the Bolshevik Revolution to the final collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The right to govern rests on the hands of the governed, not the governor.
Economic reality is controlled by three invisible forces.
The invisible hand is the price mechanism, the rise and fall of prices that guides our actions in a market. Adam Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, argues that 'the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another,' is part of human nature. The invisible handshake refers to social and historical forces which can play a significant role in the economy. The invisible foot refers to political and legal forces which also play their role. What happens in society can be seen as a reaction to, and interaction of, the invisible hand, the invisible foot, and the invisible handshake.