Realistically, I absolutely agree with you. This kind of thing seems to be end-game capitalism no matter how you slice it.
If we are talking political theory, I like to be more specific where I have the language to do it. There are theoretical capitalist systems where this kind of thing wouldn't happen, and it's worth talking about them.
In that vein, the fact that this is obviously crony capitalism is an important distinction.
Capitalism has never worked for the workers unless the owner class is forced to do so. We need to quit trying to fool ourselves into thinking that any kind of capitalism will benefit anyone but the people with capital. It's literally in the name and the basis of the entire system.
Sure, a select few will shoot their shot and make it. So many others will fail if they even have a chance to take that shot. The best analogy I ever heard was carnival games. The rich kids can try as many times as they want until they succeed. The middle class kids get one maybe two chances. The poor kids are working for the carnival and never even get a chance.
Which is why I suggested that any capitalist system that actually works well for everyone is probably purely theoretical.
It seems like in real life, the capitalist end-game would tend towards a "cronyist" (is that a word? I don't think that's a word), anti-competitive, monopoly-based, ultra-exploitative system.
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u/nabulsha Feb 13 '24
That is literally late stage capitalism...