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Chain, I agree with you that Big Business has its tentacles so deep in the current governmental structures that small businesses can no longer compete in a "free market". I am not convinced, however, that a reduction in the size of Government will necessarily correct the situation. My guess is that the oligarchs would preferentially dismantle those things that are a threat to them, not the things that give them an unfair advantage. To sum up, I think we're f%%%ed.
Take Big Oil, as an example. These are the most profitable companies in the world. Somehow they have twisted the tax code so they get incentives to explore for more sources of oil. If this were a "free market" and they decided it wasn't worth the effort to explore, then they wouldn't do it. And the people insisting they need those special tax loopholes are just as likely to be "free market" Republicans as Democrats.
Same thing with subsidies to Big Agri-business. The existing power structure is under control of large corporate interests, who would rather destroy America, all of Mankind, or even Life itself, than give up a little bit of their wealth and power. I wish I could be optimistic enough to believe there is a solution, but I honestly don't see it happening. I think it is far more likely that greed, ignorance, and fear will combine to destroy civilization as we know it, and possibly destroy the habitability of the planet.
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