> Want to climb the
> career ladder at work? Better not rub the boss the wrong way. Want tenure
or to be
> published in respectable journals? Better make sure the ideas you express
aren't too wide of
> the "consensus."
I hate to admit that this was much bigger a problem under Soviet-style socialism than US capitalism. Especially in the academia (which I know well) which was, and still is, a vestige of feudalism. The US academe is a bastion of freedom and egalitarianism in comparison.
The class for whom the US capitalism is far less cushy than socialism is the blue collar labor - there are at whimsies of their bosses here but it was virtually impossible to fire or discipline them under socialism. And I have to admit that such "cushiness" was not such a great idea, unless you liked sales clerks, maintenance workers and bus drivers sneering in your face.
Wojtek