But when the private companies overshadow government, there is no competition to take your business to. If Facebook has all my friends, I have to choose my principles or my friends. So far principles won for me but not many can do that offering. And my friends are slowly coming around again :)
Almost as if government regulation relating to monopolies and "too big to fail" corporations actually means something? Maybe a competent government would actually advocate and enforce laws to stop one company controlling your life.
Lots of bad effects can happen. Imagine you live in a place with one internet provider (most of us) and no cell service. Then imagine that because of something you said, that internet provider cancels your account and doesn't want to work with you anymore. Especially in covid times, that's basically barring you from working.
Or say you live in a small town with one grocery store, and they don't like your BLM tshirt so one day they ban you. Private company, they can do that. But now where do you buy food?
Or your Brand X car breaks down, but Brand X decides they don't want you in any Brand X dealerships anymore, but the problem is your car needs a specific diagnostic tool only available to Brand X dealers.
A sidenote that this interestingly showcases (to me) how people lived and ate before giant grocery store chains. Folks were a lot more decentralized and trade/bartered/bought with their farm from those nearby in the community. Why did we reach a point where one dangerously relies on solely a just-in-time commercial grocery outfit just to live?
And I agree, the internet monopoly is a huge issue. The internet should become widely available to all. I would say as a utility, but that then points out the fact that I have one giant power company that could also, censor me and cut me off from my only main source of power... hmmm...
This is one of the areas where liberal and conservatives alike are often in strong agreement. I find it curious that we haven't seen a protest over this issue that carries enough weight to illicit some serious change. It doesn't strike me as a difficult one to get 100k people to march for, and if the NRA/GOA backed it you could easily get 20-30k individuals who are well armed (and still peaceful) to join in like they did in Virginia.
I must be missing something because I cannot imagine why everyone is so tolerant of companies having nation-state level ability to ruin lives, and to routinely face no consequences when they do so.
