Just a quick note here, because the title of this post is how we are being trained to think using threads of the mainstream dialog.

Contrasting these two options is a false choice; it is in truth a distraction from the more important decision: individual liberty vs collective mandate. Some seem to think that the "capitalism" currently in place in the U.S. and western Europe represents something other than collective mandate. While the control mechanisms may be better disguised, they are still very much in place. Control is largely - though not exclusively - exercised by "private" corporations, but the grid is still absolutely rigid: collective (oligarchic) will is enforced. Whether that collective thought is enforced by a powerful state or a powerful group of oligarchs behind the scenes is secondary.

We need to start discussing how to ensure that nobody gets to exercise this kind of control. Seeing through the "contrast" in the title of this post is a necessary first step.