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>But I don't think it's fair to blame capitalism in an environment where there's only a handful of entrenched players. This is literally the endpoint of Capita
by knuththetruth 9y ago
>But I don't think it's fair to blame capitalism in an environment where there's only a handful of entrenched players.
This is literally the endpoint of Capitalism without regulation to prevent monopolies and a floor of public goods. You absolutely should blame it and those who fail to either check or dismantle its power.
Throughout American history, corporations have explicitly undermined and destroyed public transportation so they can profit from it. That’s why things are so bad. First they did it to sell individual cars and now to sell taxi services. Uber’s express ambition is to become the transportation monopoly you decry.
- mrguyorama 9y ago>First they did it to sell individual cars No, they've been doing this since at least railroads, the OG monopolies
- knuththetruth 9y agoGood point!
- EggsOnToast 9y agoI think you're right that I was too general but I still disagree in this context. I agree with your premise that free market capitalism is vulnerable to monopolies. But healthcare services in the U.S. are so heavily regulated that it's difficult to see how capitalism could be the factor limiting competition in this context and not the regulatory environment. That doesn't mean that the environment needs to be removed, but I do think it could be better optimized. We're quickly derailing from my initial point though, that however things got here I think Ubera new service has the potential to relieve a lot of people in a market which I believe is inadequately served at the moment.