this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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i definitely agree, easy accumulation of power in any system will lead to authoritarianism.
without strong protections, capitalism will inevitably lead to a small number of people holding most of the money (and therefore, the power).
those trying to grow massive amounts of capital do not want competition, they do not want a "fair market". they want monopoly and control and they have the money to bribe and pay their way into more of it.
they will leverage their money to their benefit and to the detriment of everyone else. this wouldn't be as bad if wealth disparity wasn't insane, but some people literally have the money to move mountains. they will buy competition just to kill it, they will lobby the government to reduce regulations on pollution and labor to lower their costs, they will pay politicians to change voting districts to make it ever harder to change the status quo, they will do whatever it takes to protect and grow their power. and in a system where money is power, their existing hoard of money all but guarantees their success.
this is also authoritarianism, just hidden by the veil of "the free market".
I actually don't disagree with anything you've said. Any one ideology will end up stagnating. We see that totally free market is a mess and creates its own ruling class with its own form of oppression. Personally I think we need a flavor of capitalism where the rules that are supposed to prevent monopolies are actually enforced. Make FTC do it's job. No bailouts, no lobbying, strict rules about campaign financing. Add universal healthcare and term limits for every government position and I think we'd be golden. We would need to keep an eye on regulatory capture.
It doesn't have to be all or nothing capitalism or socialism.