Two key paragraphs:

"The sorts of knowledge that capitalism produces are often not profound, like how to design the best headphone. But that kind of knowledge does produce enormous wealth. Human living standards were pretty much flat for all of human history until capitalism kicked in. Since then, the number of goods and services available to average people has risen by up to 10,000 percent.

If you’ve been around a little while, you’ve noticed that capitalism has brought about the greatest reduction of poverty in human history. In 1981, 42 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty. Now, it’s around 10 percent. More than a billion people have been lifted out of poverty."

And is it relates to our current politics:

"The Fraser Institute is a free-market think tank that ranks nations according to things free-market think tanks like: less regulation, free trade, secure property rights. The freest economies in the world are places like Hong Kong, the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Latvia, Denmark, Mauritius, Malta and Finland. Nations in the top quartile for economic freedom have an average G.D.P. per capita of $36,770. For those in the bottom quartile, it’s $6,140. People in the free economies have a life expectancy of 79.4 years. Those in the planned economies have a life expectancy of 65.2 years."

Let's note the presence of Denmark on that list. An example the Bern has used as his model for "socialism". Except far from being socialist, it is one of the model capitalist societies in the world. Read further down, and Brooks talks about its expansive social safety net, which it can only afford because it is one of the freest economies in the world.

The stunning worldwide success of capitalism in lifting literally billions out of poverty has come at a cost for the rich nations, like the US. It has contributed to the widening wealth gap. But the answer is better capitalism, not socialism. Not that anybody truly espouses socialism as a solution in the US, but certain extreme lefty dems, including the Bern, do like to toss that word around a little nonchalantly.

He shouldn't. And AOC shouldn't. Capitalism has done more for humanity than any concept in the history of humanity. That is an over the top statement, but I think there is a strong argument for it. Socialism on the other hand has been a disaster everywhere it has truly been employed - like Venezuela, as opposed to Denmark or Finland. The point is to improve the application of capitalism in our constantly changing world, certainly not abandon it.