this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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The Democracy of the founding fathers was Greek Democracy, predicated upon a slave society, and restricted to only the elite. This is the society we live in today, even with our reforms towards direct representation. The system is inherently biased towards the election of elites and against the representation of the masses. Hamilton called it “faction” when the working class got together and demanded better conditions, and mechanisms were built in (which still exist to this day) that serve to ensure the continued dominance of the elite over the masses. The suffering of the many is intentional. The opulence of the wealthy is also. This is the intended outcome.

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[–] BartsBigBugBag@lemmy.tf 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)

In a way, I can see that. But, his use of free market ideology reflects a vast gap between our actual messaging. “Free markets” inevitably result in monopolization. It’s not just critical industries, every industry is inevitably drawn towards monopolization under capitalist economics.

We can fight it off temporarily with reforms and regulations, but those too, inevitably will be co-opted by the monopolies and used to their advantage. (And then it’s not a free market…)

[–] knitwitt@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (9 children)

What's wrong with a monopoly if people are satisfied with it's service? In Canada, the government has a monopoly on healthcare and generally people don't complain.

[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago (7 children)

By definition, publicly owned services cannot be a monopoly. That's because it's publicly owned. Capitalism and monopoly arise from private ownership.

[–] knitwitt@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Your definition doesn't seem to be correct. This article mentions government granted monopolies (i.e hydro) and states monopolies (i.e healthcare).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government-granted_monopoly

Contrary to what I said earlier, residents of certain provinces have been complaining that the quality of their healthcare has been substandard, and are upset that there are no alternatives available as the law forbids private doctors from even setting up shop there.

[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

a government grants exclusive privilege to a private individual or firm

That is not public healthcare. That would be like the US only allowing Mayo Clinic to operate. Public healthcare is provided by the government.

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