I don’t think it is capitalism that is causing that. It is the idea of maximising shareholder value that the American economist Milton Freedman injected into the minds of political and corporate America.
I live in a capitalist country with, in law codified, employee protections including a minimum of paid time off. In addition to that, a strong union that keeps companies in check.
Capitalism works if the rules balance the power of the workers and the capitalist accordingly. But Freedman had other ideas and those are bad for everyone except a few rich guys.
I don’t agree ‘it has the high ground’. It is given it the high ground. Capitalism is all about high risk that can lead to high reward. If the rules are changed to low risk will always result in high reward for a few individuals, you end up in a system like this.
However, the system only works when the democratic systems are sound, and let’s be frank here, the democratic systems of the USA are nowhere near sound. The fact that, what you rightly addressed in your post, capital has more influence in politics than votes have, is a red flag.
So, don’t blame capitalism if it is your political system that is at fault. Because if you don’t fix that, no other economic system will function accordingly.