I think it's a silly conspiracy, but, even if it were, this kind of supression would not be possible to be done by the corporations themselves. They're simply too big and too incompetent because of the org overhead to orchestrate such a thing. The state being co opted on the other hand might be capable of doing this on their behalf. I could believe that. (but I don't it's just silly)
My personal theory is that one of the (key?) reasons the USA doesn’t have affordable universal healthcare is that it keeps most people tethered to Big Inc.
If you remove the incentive from Big Inc’s healthcare benefits, work at such places is far less appealing.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and agree.
Also, it’s amazing how inefficient medium+ businesses are. I think we should see small businesses thriving due to the cost/weight of the bureaucracy they inflict on themselves, but we don’t.
I think healthcare costs/requirements and unfair access to capital keep the inefficient machine chugging along, cutting off routes for smart people to start businesses, innovate, and improve our economy.
This is one of the manifestations of Crony Capitalism. That is, manipulation (i.e., typically regulation) that puts its thumb on the scale and picks winners and losers.
Most people who complain about capitalism are actually complaining about Crony Capitalism. The fact that they don’t understand the difference\+* is what makes CC so “magical.”
** The NFL is not the Premier League, and vice versa. Both play football, yet no one would confuse the two. Capitalism and Crony Capitalism should have the same differentiation and clarity. The reason they do not is not accidental.
Capitalism evolves into Crony Capitalism just as Communism evolves into Dictatorship and Tyranny, Feudalism evolves into Serfdom, etc. I'm just surprised it lasted this long...
conspiracy ? a flawed term.. I can tell you that 50 years ago in coastal California the proportion of Big Box retail to ordinary small business was vastly different; so different that you would not tend to believe it. The top 10 massive retailers did not exist, and thousands upon thousands of "small business" were operating. Not only "radio repair" or "clothe yardage stores" either.. I mean many of the same goods and services that are now commonly purchased via massive chain corporate stores.
Secondly, the flow of cheap plastic things from China turned into a steady stream of more and more sophisticated, and low priced, goods.. replacing things that were brand names, hand made, or niche markets. Senator Dianne Feinstein and her husband Richard Blum were particularly involved in that change fyi.
Lastly for now, the newspapers and media landscape. Books, magazines and daily newspapers.. immensely and unimaginably at the time, gone.
Technology plus boomers.. "like a pig through a boa constrictor" .. what is left is this headline. It is not only in the USA.
> Secondly, the flow of cheap plastic things from China turned into a steady stream of more and more sophisticated, and low priced, goods.. replacing things that were brand names, hand made, or niche markets. Senator Dianne Feinstein and her husband Richard Blum were particularly involved in that change fyi.
More commonly attributed to the administration of President Bill Clinton.
