People's perceptions don't really matter. The undeniable truth is that capitalism is what has brought us to a place where life expectancy is 70-80 years, infant mortality has plummeted, food is readily available to most of the world, every item we make is so abundant that we find ourselves throwing away so much that it is a problem, refrigeration and food preservation are simple, farming is highly productive, and medical technology can address most of the things that were killing people until less than a hundred years ago.