They're not. There's a difference between cronyism and the free market.
What we're witnessing is something that claims to be capitalistic but it's oligarchical. The corporate world and government are tentatively separated by a revolving door and both are utilizing the resources of the other to squelch the people they don't like who threaten to upend the hegemony.
Free markets can--and do--work, but they unfortunately need light touch regulation from the government to foster an environment of competition. The way this should have ended was, unfortunately, for the government to impose heavy fines on financial institutions for prohibiting economic participation for no other reason than wrongthink.
I don't like unnecessary regulation, but in this case it's well warranted. This is where I feel libertarianism gets it wrong. Complete absence of regulation is as bad as excessive regulatory imposition. This is likewise the same as what our founders believed.
Government must exist solely to protect the rights of the individual. When government no longer performs this duty, it is an authoritarian power that seeks to strip individual authority and self-rule.
They're not. There's a difference between cronyism and the free market.
What we're witnessing is something that claims to be capitalistic but it's oligarchical. The corporate world and government are tentatively separated by a revolving door and both are utilizing the resources of the other to squelch the people they don't like who threaten to upend the hegemony.
Free markets can--and do--work, but they unfortunately need light touch regulation from the government to foster an environment of competition. The way this should have ended was, unfortunately, for the government to impose heavy fines on financial institutions for prohibiting economic participation for no other reason than wrongthink.
I don't like unnecessary regulation, but in this case it's well warranted. This is where I feel libertarianism gets it wrong. Complete absence of regulation is as bad as excessive regulatory imposition. This is likewise the same as what our founders believed.
Government must exist solely to protect the rights of the individual. When government no longer performs this duty, it is an authoritarian power that seeks to strip individual authority and self-rule.