The End of Capitalism?

Paul Mason's fascinating article "The End of Capitalism" contains an interesting insight. When detailing the still terrifying details about the 2008 economic crash, the solution to which almost every major power broker thought was austerity, he writes:

Even now many people fail to grasp the true meaning of the word “austerity”. Austerity is not eight years of spending cuts, as in the UK, or even the social catastrophe inflicted on Greece. It means driving the wages, social wages and living standards in the west down for decades until they meet those of the middle class in China and India on the way up.

Mason's nuanced perspective is enlightening, and recommend you read the whole thing. For me, i've always wondered about people who promote austerity; those who essentially insist that we can't have nice things while turning a blind eye to the 1% who have almost all of the nice things. (Of course, those promoting austerity are usually members of the 1%.) Digging deeper, as Mason does, you see how the capitalistic system is not working as intended due to increasing technological capabilities and the lack of an organized resistance (i.e., organized labor). In fact, he points out that the roots of the 2008 crash have snapped back: "The shadow banking system has been reassembled, and is now bigger than it was in 2008. New rules demanding banks hold more reserves have been watered down or delayed."

The whole thing is scary, but he does point out rays of hope for what he terms a "post-capitalistic" system. The need for an evolved system of some form feels right to me, as capitalism hasn't felt healthy for a while - too many "fingers on the scale" influencing what is supposed to be a free market. But I'll let those much more qualified than I continue: read the article at the Guardian here. What do you think?