the wider context - What is 'Good capialism' and what is 'Bad Capitalism' and who (if anyone) decides which is which?
Executive pay is a good example of how capitalism is not a synonym for western democracy. Stealing from Churchill, capitalism is the worst type of economy, except for all of the others. For all of its injustices and inequalities, it is still better than the other economic systems, at least in practice.
What we have in western style first world nations is a very interesting interplay between our democratic ideals and the inherent injustices of capitalism. We say that all men are equal, but then we don't pay them equally. What we do instead is use regulation to rein in capitalism in the name of social justice. With regulation, too much and you risk killing the benefits that a capitalist economy brings. Too little regulation and you see disparities that lead to civil unrest. You have to find that balance between injustice and benefit.
On the spectrum of injustices, exec pay is probably an evil that is worth living with. What we need to get over is the idea that the level of salaries reflect an exec's merit. It doesn't. It is unfair. It is unjust. We need to get over it since trying to fix the injustice will probably do more harm than good.
Edited by Taq, : No reason given.