> Borg also said South Asian laborers working on NEOM were “fucking morons” so “that is why white people are at the top of the pecking order.” He also said Gulf women were “tranvestites.”
"Why do you hate billionaires so much?"
"Why do you hate billionaires so much?"
People who defend capitalism will point out that "well there is some market inefficiency (government interference, authoritarianism, subsidies) that actually makes this not real capitalism". In this example Saudi Arabia is a monarchist petrostate spending government money on stupid projects, so that's actually "not capitalism".
This is the same as the meme of people saying "not real communism" when someone asks how they feel about Lenin murdering a bunch of people.
Instead we should understand that capitalism is about private ownership of property, NOT a fictitious "Free Market" as Milton Friedman tried to re-center the conversation around. Understanding that capitalism is about ownership, and not markets, makes it clear that authoriatrianism and capitalism go hand-in-hand, as a strong and violent government exists to enforce the property rights of the owning class. The power structure of Saudi Arabia is fully compatible with capitalism as it exists throughout the "west" or the "free world".
You don't pick anything. Our rulers pick the system and we bend over backwards to justify it so we don't lose our minds.
> The private sector can’t legally force me to pay for their projects, whereas the “public” sector can.
What's stopping them from hiring a private military and enslaving you? Who will stop them? The government which they control in this scenario?
Power is power, whether it is private or public.
The main reason I argue with people on here and come across as annoying is that the reflexive defence of capitalism by people living under it is conditioned into them by society. I would like for people to recognize that "our guys" do a just as much harm as "the bad guys over there" instead of rushing to justify some atrocity because well, it's our atrocity.
If Tesla wants to increase car ownership, they just need to control a few key politicians to dismantle alternative forms of transporation.
In an ideal world, liberal democratic governments would keep corporations under control while ensuring our individual rights, and corporations would provide goods and services at the lowest, most efficient rate. This is not the case in reality unfortunately.
The private sector does not control the government in this scenario. That is the difference. The private sector only controls its own property. Now if there is public ownership of property, then yes the capital owning class will resort to controlling the state to control the property, and thereby controlling the military to enforce the rules the capital owning class wants.
This might be the most misunderstood aspect of what a free market means. It does not mean that you're free to violate freedom of others. It means that everyone is free to buy and sell any product or service while consenting to do so under full information symmetry. You're not allowed to violate others right to do so; using violence, lying or any form of dishonesty, which happens in this case.
I'm not saying that free markets solve everything. For example, a worker might accidentally sign a contract which turns out to be exploitative. Which means that the laws about exploiting or harming anyone must override any free market contracts.