Forgive the crude editing of this diary- I wrote it a while ago, and my new work load will make it hard to post much of consequence. So here it is, with warts- an idea, a suspicion that we've gnawed on for a couple years.
Gaius Publius asks the same question, almost, in his comment on Frank Richs' latest column.

Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.