Instead, the state-supported rich and powerful can claim we live in a "free market economy" that just happens to have trillions of state-sponsored investment, f

Instead, the state-supported rich and powerful can claim we live in a "free market economy" that just happens to have trillions of state-sponsored investment, for them. Corporatism (the current system) is neither socialism nor capitalism. It's designed to give a well-connected elite the best of both systems and the rest of society the worst of both. It's like suburbia, which delivers the best of both worlds (urban and rural) for the rich and the worst of both to the poor. The truth is that the elite of our society do not meaningfully compete. They serve on each others' corporate boards, arrange jobs for one another in event of adverse circumstances, and have generally set up their own private welfare system (see: EIR gigs). The competition rhetoric exists because they intend for us to compete-- against each other, thus ignoring them.