And in this merchant-style sort of economy, the rich weren't an order of magnitude richer than the poor, and profiting off their backs?

FFS, monkeys quickly figure out how to trade "money" for sex. World's oldest profession anyone? We're no different. Capitalism just perfected it.

Capitalism is just dandy, with some serious government oversight. Problem being, how do you stop the overseers from getting rich legislating the oversight? Same problem in any economic policy.

Kinda funny thought I had in my 20's. The only way to truly get rich is by getting other people working for you. Never pursued that line of work, just not me, can't do it. But it's still true and always will be, no matter the economics.