something else What that something else looks like depends on the conditions that turn the page on what we've got now. The traditional wager was that worker unrest would be the main driving force, and it's a short hop from there to assuming that "The Alternative" is big 'c' Communism. If it is ecological collapse that does it, though, well that society is gonna look different from one where the tipping point was revolt due to mass unemployment.
This is what discourages me from seeing alternatives, Communism has done little more than caused mass starvation historically, and only addresses inequality by making the vast percentage equally poor while those in power still live lives of luxury. I have little hope "real" communism will ever exist in a world of scarcity and materialism, or any chance of ridding the world of inequity beyond social inequity for that matter. I see radical federal intervention to prevent businesses from taking advantage as they do as a potential alternative, but a country the size of America, or many first world countries, must remain somewhat hospitable to businesses to maintain an economy (from my understanding). I only see a massive period of upheaval catalyzed by an unknown event filled with a lot of suffering and death as society attempts to transition. Even then I have little hope that a new system will be established in which those with influence won't attempt to secure resources for themselves over their constituency and maintain their influence, I'm not misanthropic I just believe people will always put their survival over other despite how warp demanding their idea of "surviving" is. I also don't see how the modern world we live in would be maintained outside of capitalism, invention is fueled by competition, whether it be war or financial, our technology supplied by cheap labor, our infrastructure held up not by good Samaritans but by people working for a paycheck, On a micro level I believe sharing the load is doable, but who want's to fix the sewers in New York city for free, or run the power plants, or work the factory line. There's so much said about how capitalism and government need to change, and I agree, but little about people and what their expectations enable. I have little hope beyond trying to be am egalitarian to those around me and eaking out as comfortable of a living as I can for me and mine, mine being my family, friends, and whatever semblance of a community I occasionally encounter. It's been a long day so I might be more illiterate than normal and maybe more moody.
By something else, I didn't mean Communism. I meant "it depends". Mostly I responded because "What is the alternative?" implies to me a choice between Capitalism and Whatever Else. That would require more control over the situation than we actually have. At some point, Capitalism will stop being a viable process, be it for ecological reasons, cultural change, financial crisis, whatever. I'm not saying that we don't have agency, just that choosing Capitalism from now until forever isn't really within our practical sphere of choice. If no other set of relations is viable, human history will get really bleak really fast.