3 ms·

A truly free market is also free of regulation and embraces predatory actions by monopolists. Think being paid in company scrip instead of dollars. Think a si

A truly free market is also free of regulation and embraces predatory actions by monopolists. Think being paid in company scrip instead of dollars. Think a single food supply monopoly with patented seeds you can be prosecuted for propagating, and harmful additives in food because it's cheaper. Think better education inaccessible for those nincompoops who weren't born into wealth. Serves them right for choosing to be born poor, amirite? Some amount of regulation is required if you want a just, healthy, society, with economic mobility. People say they want 100% free markets but they don't really comprehend what that looks like.

WalterBright 1mo ago
> company scrip Did you know that paychecks are private money? They aren't legal tender. RSU's are company scrip, too. Besides, nobody can make you take a job you don't want. > patented seeds Patents are a government invention, and I'm on record opposing them. > harmful additives Harming and/or defrauding customers is against the law and is actionable. > better education inaccessible Government run schools are pretty much bottom of the barrel.
- stackghost 1mo ago
  >Did you know that paychecks are private money? They aren't legal tender. I did know this, actually. Thankfully your banks are not free market profiteers. They're subject to stringent regulations to ensure a more orderly and efficient market, and thus they'll dependably convert cheques to dollars. Another point against free market absolutism. >Harming and/or defrauding customers is against the law and is actionable. That's why Big Tobacco was dismantled and are no longer advertising and selling harmful, addictive products to teens, right? Teenagers after all are well-known for their astute abilities to assess risk and make rational, informed decisions that are in their long-term best interests, right? More regulation is needed here, not less. >Government run schools are pretty much bottom of the barrel. In the USA, certainly. That's not an indictment of public education as a whole, though, only of American society's "Fuck you, I got mine" values. If Americans were less selfish they could have the most highly-educated citizens on the planet, with global-elite schooling available to every American schoolchild. In any case, free market absolutism is delusional for all but the billionaire class (for whom it's optimal) and I'm not interested in continuing this conversation further.
slopinthebag 1mo ago
> A truly free market is also free of regulation and embraces predatory actions by monopolists. This is a non sequitur and also makes no sense. A free market doesn’t “embrace” anything, it’s the sum of the decisions individuals make absent external coercion. That you might be unhappy with the decisions others make doesn’t necessarily make it a problem. But every single economy is heavily controlled, regulated, and interfered with, and the so-called “free market” examples people use like healthcare in the States are examples of the most tightly controlled and regulated markets (if you can even call them that) on the planet. So when people complain about “free markets” they’re complaining about heavily controlled markets without even knowing it.
- stackghost 1mo ago
  Sounds like we agree that the USA does not have a truly free market, and that some regulation is essential. I'm glad!
  - slopinthebag 1mo ago
    We agree on the first point yes, lol.

WalterBright 1mo ago

> company scrip Did you know that paychecks are private money? They aren't legal tender. RSU's are company scrip, too. Besides, nobody can make you take a job you don't want. > patented seeds Patents are a government invention, and I'm on record opposing them. > harmful additives Harming and/or defrauding customers is against the law and is actionable. > better education inaccessible Government run schools are pretty much bottom of the barrel.

stackghost 1mo ago
>Did you know that paychecks are private money? They aren't legal tender. I did know this, actually. Thankfully your banks are not free market profiteers. They're subject to stringent regulations to ensure a more orderly and efficient market, and thus they'll dependably convert cheques to dollars. Another point against free market absolutism. >Harming and/or defrauding customers is against the law and is actionable. That's why Big Tobacco was dismantled and are no longer advertising and selling harmful, addictive products to teens, right? Teenagers after all are well-known for their astute abilities to assess risk and make rational, informed decisions that are in their long-term best interests, right? More regulation is needed here, not less. >Government run schools are pretty much bottom of the barrel. In the USA, certainly. That's not an indictment of public education as a whole, though, only of American society's "Fuck you, I got mine" values. If Americans were less selfish they could have the most highly-educated citizens on the planet, with global-elite schooling available to every American schoolchild. In any case, free market absolutism is delusional for all but the billionaire class (for whom it's optimal) and I'm not interested in continuing this conversation further.

slopinthebag 1mo ago

> A truly free market is also free of regulation and embraces predatory actions by monopolists. This is a non sequitur and also makes no sense. A free market doesn’t “embrace” anything, it’s the sum of the decisions individuals make absent external coercion. That you might be unhappy with the decisions others make doesn’t necessarily make it a problem. But every single economy is heavily controlled, regulated, and interfered with, and the so-called “free market” examples people use like healthcare in the States are examples of the most tightly controlled and regulated markets (if you can even call them that) on the planet. So when people complain about “free markets” they’re complaining about heavily controlled markets without even knowing it.

stackghost 1mo ago
Sounds like we agree that the USA does not have a truly free market, and that some regulation is essential. I'm glad!
- slopinthebag 1mo ago
  We agree on the first point yes, lol.