I don't understand your objection. The country was run by robber barons and started to move toward some sort of revolution (however you would describe FDR getting four terms), then antitrust laws ended it. Then we stopped enforcing antitrust laws, and got Google, Amazon, Disney, etc..
> That is a very pessimistic way of looking at things.
This isn't a real criticism. It's either an accurate way of looking at things or not. And I think the obvious odds that Amazon wouldn't just buy it and shut it down if it made it up the difficult road of getting any significant traction are 1. That's how business works now, that's actually success. Tech companies are making this exact argument during antitrust hearings - that not allowing them to buy businesses up and shut them down would destroy the startup scene.
edit: it would have a lot better chance if somebody would paint Amazon as either being intolerably liberal, intolerably conservative, or both at the same time. Open the angry Boomer spigot.
Tesla exists. Cars are an existing and crowded market. And yet, despite that, Tesla managed to not only enter, but survive. If that is possible, parent's claim that:
"The only way to get ahead these days is to either 1) flout the laws or 2) have enough capital and political influence to force your way to success, such as with regulatory capture."
is simply not accurate.
<< It's either an accurate way of looking at things or not.
> That is a very pessimistic way of looking at things.
This isn't a real criticism. It's either an accurate way of looking at things or not. And I think the obvious odds that Amazon wouldn't just buy it and shut it down if it made it up the difficult road of getting any significant traction are 1. That's how business works now, that's actually success. Tech companies are making this exact argument during antitrust hearings - that not allowing them to buy businesses up and shut them down would destroy the startup scene.
edit: it would have a lot better chance if somebody would paint Amazon as either being intolerably liberal, intolerably conservative, or both at the same time. Open the angry Boomer spigot.