Who’s on top? As of this writing, on the Democratic Party side, the ultimate insider, Hillary Clinton, faces off against establishment socialist and theoretically “independent” Bernie Sanders. On the Republican side, the main contest is between two men who have never held political office: rude and crude misogynist and racist Donald Trump, a billionaire by virtue of milking corporate bankruptcy laws, versus Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and Christian fundamentalist who doesn’t believe in evolution.

Second-tier candidates include everyone from two sons of immigrants who each want to build a bigger and better border wall to a fired Hewlett-Packard CEO who touts her business savvy.

A motley crew indeed, but one that reflects what is happening outside the electoral ring. The crowded debate stages mirror the growing polarization of society as a whole, largely caused by people’s deep uneasiness about the economy and their place in it.

The candidates also personify the sharpening of a trend whereby capitalist democracy, as represented by the electoral process, is becoming less and less democratic all the time.

Divisions Result From the System’s Decline

It’s easy to see how people’s insecurities […]