This is abominable, I agree. All I am asking people on FR to remember who those companies were --- Detroit automakers, not Wall Street. Wall Street did not ask for and tried to avoid the "bailout."
We have the right and reasons to be angry. Let's be angry at the true culprits and for the right reasons.
government (taxpayer forced ) subsidies of private companies and nearly entire industries in some cases.
government writing/enforcing tax codes and regulations which specifically favor one or more corporations (or entire sectors of the economy) to the detriment of open competition.
As I suspected, we are in complete agreement here as well. Thank you for being precise here: it is the government that is the culprit here --- and at least one half of the country that ignorantly applauds those actions.
The only small remark I would make here is that what you describe falls under the category of fascism (as Mussolini construed it). No, I don't mean it as an insult. I am referring to the form of socialism where the government formally leaves ownership in private hands but over-regulates companies ---- in the name of the state --- to such extent that ownership ultimately becomes moot. Fascism rather than corporatism seem a more appropriate name for what you describe here. But we completely agree on content.
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Where do you buy your crack sir?