unless you're going to delineate left/right by socialism/capitalism, then left/right is a silly division

You likely are, @Eccles. To be clear, I'm for the separation of state and economy.

i dont like the thought of aligning with a group

Except for healthcare and shit like trains where it’s impossible to have competition

I'm pro-safety net and public services

I’m ok with the government handling services, we just have to root out corruption and red tape

I'm pro- tight regulation of the markets for the purposes of protecting the nation state and keeping markets free

Well damn, me and Eccles agree

I denounce altruism in any form, Eccles. You may practice it in your daily life, but not channel it into the State under the imposition of force.

Of course we do, PeP, you hunk

☺️

You cannot rely on privately derived welfare and services in a modern society

Until your interventions subvert the expressed purpose.

You cannot keep markets free by granting the State power to intervene.

That's why services have to be clearly delineated, and be of universal flat access to citizens

This is where I disagree

The power to regulate will always be captured and turned against you.

Thailand. Every day at 6pm.
They play the national anthem on all publicly broadcasted tv channels. Nation wide.

Reckon you could propose legislation like that in the US?

I'm a minimalist when it comes to social services but I strongly believe they should exist

If you believe that, Jeremy, then you necessarily must acknowledge free markets are transient and will tend to become extinct

https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/ot3BMdTXyI7YmpGcqhcWOLm3stqfVS8XK_q3AWFK-gs/https/cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/406227872500678656/625815158421454888/boomer.mp4

I'd want an as low percentage to be on them as was ethical

That's correct.

Bit daft to champion something that is transient and leads to something dangerous to society

Without steps to preserve it and stop the bad externality

Free markets are not the danger to society.

No

What they lead to is

Broadly speaking, free markets endure.
It’s only when individual sectors are regulated and competition is squashed that monopolies truly occur.

Not true, Scale_e

No, it the State which is the danger to society, as it always has been, exercising its monopoly on power.

Massive corporations can be deadly too

In the absence of never-ending frontiers to expand into, monopolies will always be the natural endpoint of free markets

Give me an example of a monopoly, a true monopoly occurring, that wasn’t the result of the state shitting on competitors to that developing monopoly.

Especially since we don’t have democratic elections for CEO of Facebook

It’s ok. I’ll wait.

Scale_e, just about every large corporation in every sector

Any ladies here wanna discuss why they're so inferior to men? <:slurpgon:583424900732157956>

It's always the State, eliminating competition via barriers to entry and excessive costs burdening operation.

Not true

True