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Why are those systems unlawful? I don't think anybody can force me to sell some items in my shop.

spacebanana7 2y ago
They're not unlawful but they are tyrannical. Imagine a free market where landlords could lease to tenants on any terms mutually acceptable to both, on terms that could be continually revised. Like the terms on most standard websites. A large rent change might encourage a tenant to leave the agreement. But a small, annoying and petty demand might not justify the hassle of the tenant leaving. For example a landlord could suddenly and arbitrary ban carrots from being in the house. I don't particularly like carrots, and moving all my stuff to a different apartment to have the ability to eat them is hard to justify. But it's tyrannical of a landlord to exercise power like that.
- HPsquared 2y ago
  That sums up a lot of peoples' relationship with the state. Only it's the "social contract" and you can't get out of it.
  - exe34 2y ago
    is this a Western democracy you are referring to?
    - HPsquared 2y ago
      It's pretty much universal.
      - exe34 2y ago
        no, in a democracy you get to vote on who you want to run the country. if you don't like the options, you need to run for election on your own platform. either way, you get the government you deserve.
        HPsquared 2y ago
        Only in a kind of abstract way. Just like you can in theory buy ebooks from someone other than Amazon, or make a rival company, but it won't make any difference. The individual just has to accept whatever they are given.
        exe34 2y ago
        if your platform doesn't take off, it means your offering isn't as popular as you think.
  - epolanski 2y ago
    Good thing is that in a democracy you can choose who you vote, campaign for them or even get elected and change it.
    - HPsquared 2y ago
      And you can always personally not buy a given product from Amazon. It's about the same level of input.
arp242 2y ago
Well, no. But you're also not really taking anyone's livelihood away if you choose to not sell some item in your shop. It's the "de facto monopoly" that's key here; practically speaking the situation is "deal with corp X or bust", and avoiding these companies is typically an enormous uphill battle, or even border-line impossible in some cases.

They're not unlawful but they are tyrannical. Imagine a free market where landlords could lease to tenants on any terms mutually acceptable to both, on terms that could be continually revised. Like the terms on most standard websites. A large rent change might encourage a tenant to leave the agreement. But a small, annoying and petty demand might not justify the hassle of the tenant leaving. For example a landlord could suddenly and arbitrary ban carrots from being in the house. I don't particularly like carrots, and moving all my stuff to a different apartment to have the ability to eat them is hard to justify. But it's tyrannical of a landlord to exercise power like that.

HPsquared 2y ago
That sums up a lot of peoples' relationship with the state. Only it's the "social contract" and you can't get out of it.
- exe34 2y ago
  is this a Western democracy you are referring to?
  - HPsquared 2y ago
    It's pretty much universal.
    - exe34 2y ago
      no, in a democracy you get to vote on who you want to run the country. if you don't like the options, you need to run for election on your own platform. either way, you get the government you deserve.
      - HPsquared 2y ago
        Only in a kind of abstract way. Just like you can in theory buy ebooks from someone other than Amazon, or make a rival company, but it won't make any difference. The individual just has to accept whatever they are given.
        exe34 2y ago
        if your platform doesn't take off, it means your offering isn't as popular as you think.
- epolanski 2y ago
  Good thing is that in a democracy you can choose who you vote, campaign for them or even get elected and change it.
  - HPsquared 2y ago
    And you can always personally not buy a given product from Amazon. It's about the same level of input.

arp242 2y ago

Well, no. But you're also not really taking anyone's livelihood away if you choose to not sell some item in your shop. It's the "de facto monopoly" that's key here; practically speaking the situation is "deal with corp X or bust", and avoiding these companies is typically an enormous uphill battle, or even border-line impossible in some cases.