> What world is the author living in? What system of political economy is better, Soviet style communism?

This is a pefectly by the book false dichotomy.

The issue is real: capitalism leads to alienation.

Actually, it's capitalism that needs alienation to work (I explain why later)

The more extreme is capitalism the more people living in it are alienated.

It's not necessary to live in other systems or propose an alternative to simply realize what's in front of our eyes.

Besides: there are many ways of being a capitalistic economy, some are worse than others.

The Elon Musk 80 hours work week or you're free to go (aka fired) while he impregnates every female he encounters just because he can't keep it in his pants is probably less desirable than the French 35 hours work week with mandatory 16 weeks of paid maternity leave (26 from the second child onward) and 4 weeks of paid holidays.

Just to name one.

Have you read "bullshit jobs"?

People tend to defend their way of life even when their way if life is shit. many people living in capitalistic economies identity themselves with their job and changing priorities looks scary to them: suddenly their identity and their carriers could become not so important and probably even be seen as detrimental to mental health.

Like many parents see football as a dangerous activity right now because the awareness around brain traumas is much higher than in the past.

Doesn't need an alternative to talk about it and having doubts when it's about your child's well being.

There's one thing we can be sure, beside death, people would go incredible lengths to keep their status and avoid changes, even if they could potentially benefit from that change.

It's the reason why avoidance is the most popular way to deal with problems in life.

Ask a psychologist if you do not believe me.

Anyway, it's very easy to explain why it is: capitalism without alienation doesn't work.

See, for example, "Amazon had employees Brett Daniels and Jason Anthony arrested on Wednesday in retaliation for their involvement with the union"

or

"Amazon has apologised to a US politician for falsely denying that drivers are, at times, forced to urinate in plastic bottles"

Alienation is key to become Amazon. But it only benefits Amazon and the shareholders who are already rich enough to not have to worry about money for generations to come.

Specifically when we talkbput alienation in capitalistic systems we refer to "the process whereby the worker is made to feel foreign to the products of his/her own labor" which is exactly how modern capitalism works.

The urge for the typical workers is to pay the bills, not make something that other people really find useful or need, because that either doesn't pay the bill or it's too immaterial or disconnected fro the worker's grasp to even be possible. Aggravated by the fact that the aforementioned Amazon driver knows very well that most of the items being delivered are not necessary for the buyers, they bought them out of compulsion and fabricated needs.

That divide between the need for money and the lack of meaning in the job being carried on, it's what causes alienation.

It's a direct consequence of how the system works.