> free markets

Where is this free market you're talking about ? Is it the ones with all the lobbies spending billions to get ahead ? Or the one where the government friends get the juicy contracts ?

Agreed, but I suspect that this is an intuitive reaction to the fact that the markets are largely rigged in favor of the well connected. Of course, to the well-connected, this situation can be described as a "free market", but it isn't free in the same way it should be for the vast majority of people.

Even in popular tech-- the internet-- we're seeing a wave of regulation and surveillance that will certainly stifle future growth for the small guy. You still see a lot of positive sentiment with regard to the "old internet".

“Free markets” are a conceptual tool. People don’t like how the tool is being used in America (and tbh globally).

I’ve always associated HN with a more humane side of the tech industry, relatively more concerned about the wellbeing of society at large.

Big tech is long past having a positive impact, and well into crony capitalism/oligopolies/regulatory capture/maximizing exploitation and rent seeking.

Science give us tech, not capitalism.

Tech? The one built on open source? Where people give away their code and time for free? That's the one that's capitalism-positive in your head? Maybe today once tech has become big money, but I wouldn't say traditionally.

Free markets are an utopia. This becomes more obvious the more you study.

What really surprises me is how much of HN swallows the whole capitalist propaganda without ever questioning it. Maybe the promise of the journey from the garage to billionaire is too enticing.