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The free market in the United States is celebrated by the mouth of those who pass the laws, but often gets beaten by the hand. I don't think my ISP choice is a

by oxide 10y ago

The free market in the United States is celebrated by the mouth of those who pass the laws, but often gets beaten by the hand. I don't think my ISP choice is a result of free market capitalism. It seems an awful lot like collusion against the free market, against competition, locking me down to one ISP depending in which region I happen to live.

blunte 10y ago
That's basically what Reich is talking about. The people with money (power) make the rules. The label is still "capitalism", but the reality is otherwise. The US definitely does not have a free market. I would venture a guess that most of the regulations are actually designed to benefit a select few at the top of some company or investment system.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > The people with money (power) make the rules. The label is still "capitalism" Which makes sense, since that's exactly what the label "capitalism" was created for. Lots of people have, however, bought into propaganda that capitalism is something else that was created by capitalists after the criticism in which the system was named.
  - candiodari 10y ago
    Perhaps it should be mentioned where power and rules came from in other economic systems. Blood lines (either real, or "Roman-style" (meaning voluntary adoption)), outright whim or military power (either individual, or organized), or otherwise advancement within a rigid hierarchy. None of those seem to me even remotely preferable over a system where making money means advancement.
    - dragonwriter 10y ago
      Even Marx viewed capitalism as a step forward from its immediate predecessor, which was itself forward from what had come before. Your post would be perhaps relevant in the context of a challenge to capitalism that favored reverting to some previous system rather than continuing to build on the progress made by capitalism relative to previous systems, but such criticisms are, at best, extremely rare even among criticisms of capitalism.
      - candiodari 10y ago
        Communism is not "a previous system", and power in communism obviously came from advancement within a rigid hierarchy. Unless communism/socialism is not what you mean with "continuing to build".

by oxide 10y ago

blunte 10y ago

That's basically what Reich is talking about. The people with money (power) make the rules. The label is still "capitalism", but the reality is otherwise. The US definitely does not have a free market. I would venture a guess that most of the regulations are actually designed to benefit a select few at the top of some company or investment system.

dragonwriter 10y ago
> The people with money (power) make the rules. The label is still "capitalism" Which makes sense, since that's exactly what the label "capitalism" was created for. Lots of people have, however, bought into propaganda that capitalism is something else that was created by capitalists after the criticism in which the system was named.
- candiodari 10y ago
  Perhaps it should be mentioned where power and rules came from in other economic systems. Blood lines (either real, or "Roman-style" (meaning voluntary adoption)), outright whim or military power (either individual, or organized), or otherwise advancement within a rigid hierarchy. None of those seem to me even remotely preferable over a system where making money means advancement.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    Even Marx viewed capitalism as a step forward from its immediate predecessor, which was itself forward from what had come before. Your post would be perhaps relevant in the context of a challenge to capitalism that favored reverting to some previous system rather than continuing to build on the progress made by capitalism relative to previous systems, but such criticisms are, at best, extremely rare even among criticisms of capitalism.
    - candiodari 10y ago
      Communism is not "a previous system", and power in communism obviously came from advancement within a rigid hierarchy. Unless communism/socialism is not what you mean with "continuing to build".