the problem is, we don't actually have a free market, in any industry. literally, tell me the last time you heard of ANY business lowering their prices to gain or retain customers. I'll wait. 💀
if I had a nickel for every time some right-wing capitalist simp referred to autocracies as "communist" I could buy Xitter from Elmo Muskrat. North Korea is not communist, you can tell because KJU OWNS PROPERTY and the country's wealth is not being equally distributed amongst the people. Venezuela used to function great as a socialist country, until Maduro took over and fucked it all up and started hoarding wealth for himself. enough comparing capitalism to strawman examples of "communism."
see? that wasn't so hard. capitalism naturally encourages the consolidation of economic power. this is going to happen EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. you can't rely on competition unless you have a permanent, non-profit, govt-regulated alternative at every turn. ISPs, utilities, healthcare, groceries, housing, etc. the free market is a goddamn lie, it can't save you from the monopolies inherent in the system.
Right-wing media 101: "both sides have taken up the antitrust cause. Democrats are taking action against monopolies. Some Republicans are worried about it."
I was today years old when I realized this Simpsons episode was referencing a real-life Barbara Walters interview.
no, what encourages car use among Texans is THE SIZE OF TEXAS. the Dallas metroplex alone is over 9000 [Vegeta gif] square miles. do you know how fucking annoying it is to visit my cousin in her "luxury" apartment and having to park 3 blocks away at a public park because they're all "we don't need parking, we don't need to drive, we wfh and there's a restaurant across the street!" I'm not living anywhere that doesn't have someplace for me to park my fucking car.
and finally, we finish on the hilarious irony of "join us for this meeting on the lack of childcare. no on-site childcare will be provided."
Gosh. Almost like you can't stop the spread when schools were closed but people still selfishly congregated in groups, maskless, and spread it anyway. 🙄
you could build a perpetual energy machine fueled by this guy furiously masturbating over Covid-era school closures.