I agree to a point. But actually corruption is the enemy of freedom. Raw capitalism gives everyone wealth and happiness. Competition incentive tech advancement small business success. Trade unions and Competition are destroyed by corruption. Are essential to
Free market for whom? As people and workers are on the receiving end of the system. The illusion of consumer freedom is about the “market” being done to workers with more debt & credit.
The fact that they would have suffered too if we let the banks go bust shows that the big issue was not "free markets", as you argue, by the political dynamics unleashed by "financialisation" -the Ponzi scheme of interdependentness that means politicians no longer believe they have political choices
Almost everything that needs to happen to change the system, reverse inequality and give people a different option to the far right one comes back to finding a way to unpick "financialisation" that gives corporations too much power and makes politicians afraid to let orgs fail and new ones rise...?
It's about reversing unhelpful dependencies - in a way Trump is this on steroids: he is unashamedly about building a network of leverage and dependencies that give him power over others. This is just financialisation capitalism on steroids?
When greed hits the poor and sick with targeting the vulnerable to get the welfare bill down, instead of the rich and corporations with higher taxes, then it is morally wrong
So if fascism is the merger of state and corporate power, and in every major western country, state and corporation now work hand in hand to protect each other, has the west already quietly surrendered to fascism?
It's always been this way. Capitalist Democracy was a scam. States have always colluded with the rich, serve at the behest of the rich, and are run by the rich. States are essential to Capitalism and create monopolies on violence to defend and enforce Capitalism. Fascism is an ancient evil.
Comments
Our taxes fund their failure and we throw in a real life 'get-out-of-jail-free' card.
Every time.
#WeOwnIt
Every so often, the enormity of what happened 15 years ago hits me afresh...
That a few thousand people risked everything to make a killing, it all went wrong, and as a result they got propped up and BILLIONS then lost out.
Not to mention the fallout that has since emerged...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/14/thames-water-asks-ofwat-to-be-spared-fines-costs