InnateAnarchy t1_itsmgkj wrote on October 26, 2022 at 12:21 AM

Reply to comment by kgbking in Peter Singer Is the Philosopher of the Status Quo by TuvixWasMurderedR1P

Covid made things so much worse in that regard. Forced all the smaller business to shut down while letting the bigger ones stay open.

Ppp loans galore to the biggest companies.

An absurd amount of mom and pop + smaller franchises shut down.

In other words, the governments of the world basically ensured everything is monopolized.

kgbking t1_itswzfi wrote on October 26, 2022 at 1:41 AM

It seems we have some disagreements.

>Forced all the smaller business to shut down while letting the bigger ones stay open.

I take it that you perceive the Covid restrictions to have been pretty awful government policy because it benefited some businesses while harming other. Myself, on the other hand, believe that the Covid restrictions were a necessary enactment for the safety of the population, regardless of which businesses did or did not benefit from it. If so businesses benefited more than others during this temporary period of Covid regulation, then so be it.

>the governments of the world basically ensured everything is monopolized.

However, as a general statement, I believe this to be 100% correct. By governments implementing a liberal social organization, governments definitely contribute to the monopolization of industry. This is how capital and capitalism work, the unending movement towards monopolization.

InnateAnarchy t1_itt1x8d wrote on October 26, 2022 at 2:20 AM

I’m sorry in advance that I’m not sure how to format as well as you.

I did not mean to imply any value judgment on the covid restrictions, merely stating they heavily favored the Titans of the industries and Greatly hindered the smaller companies.

You mentioned capital and capitalism as an unending movement toward monopolization. Are you implying that inherently fiat money and capitilsm always end at a monopoly? If so can you elaborate as to why you think that?

I really enjoy this discussion so I apologize if you’re picking up a negative tone but if I understood correctly, I don’t think I agree with this.

We use fiat money along with changing rates to control both the supply and the worth.

As for capitalism, ultimately there hasn’t been any company that’s infallible through time. Even something like Amazon isn’t infallible. So on the side of the companies, I don’t think theres any proof of a company that’s lasted long enough to accumulate to the point of true monopolization.

Id be much more inclined to agree if there was a finite amount of money.

kgbking t1_itts9pd wrote on October 26, 2022 at 6:55 AM

> they heavily favored the Titans of the industries and Greatly hindered the smaller companies.

Yes I am in agreement with you. The large corporations definitely benefited while the small businesses suffered.

>I did not mean to imply any value judgment on the covid restrictions,

Alright, my apologies. I wrongly ascribed a normative judgement to you. I believe I ascribed that judgement because during the pandemic I met a lot of people who advocated lifting all restrictions due to the restrictions harming some businesses while benefiting others.

>As for capitalism, ultimately there hasn’t been any company that’s infallible through time. Even something like Amazon isn’t infallible. So on the side of the companies, I don’t think theres any proof of a company that’s lasted long enough to accumulate to the point of true monopolization.

Yes, I agree. I think 'monopolization' is too strong a word for what I was trying to convey. The phenomena I was attempting to describe was merely the decreasing competition and increasing oligopolic market structure. The global market structure is increasingly taking the form of an oligopoly where a fewer number of firms disproportionally capture the majority of the market share. I think capitalism naturally moves in this direction.

Orngog t1_ittu6oi wrote on October 26, 2022 at 7:22 AM

>while the small businesses suffered

So be it.