Competition kills itself over time, by the mechanisms you describe, and government can’t truly be a meaningful check on business unless it’s a proletarian government, which requires proletarian control of the base. Competition cannot exist forever.
Based on analyzing wealth concentration, and how much large firms control over smaller ones. Marx explains why it happens in Capital, but an easy way to think of it is because large firms have more financial power to create large and complex chains of production, lowering costs overall and outcompeting small firms.
Yeah that’s called economies of scale, these are not big in all industries and barriers of entry are also not big in all industries. So your argument is a good argument for why we have antitrust laws and why we need some companies and industries to be publicly owned, but this is not the case for every industry.
So what does your analysis of wealth concentration say? Has every capitalist country had increased wealth concentration? What type of wealth has increased in concentration?
Different industries and sectors gradually scale differently, but all move towards concentration. This is consistent and graduated. Every Capitalist country has regularly seen this gradual concentration over time, even if temporary shifts against this trend happen.
Again, without an analysis of political power and taking an agnostic attitude towards production, you have what can sound to liberals as a good idea but is ultimately not a real answer. If the Proletariat cannot wrest control, all regulations and taxes will be enacted in a manner that suits the Capitalists in control if you get far enough in the first place. Wealth will continue to accumulate, as the entire M-C-M’ circuit is based on growth in scale of profit, not steady cashflow.
The Marxist position isn’t that moving towards full public ownership immediately is a practical solution, but that this is a gradual process that starts with the proletariat siezing control. I recommend you actually engage with Marxist theory.
Competition kills itself over time, by the mechanisms you describe, and government can’t truly be a meaningful check on business unless it’s a proletarian government, which requires proletarian control of the base. Competition cannot exist forever.
Based on what evidence? Where I’m from, which is a capitalist country, inequality hasn’t risen and union membership has stayed strong.
Based on analyzing wealth concentration, and how much large firms control over smaller ones. Marx explains why it happens in Capital, but an easy way to think of it is because large firms have more financial power to create large and complex chains of production, lowering costs overall and outcompeting small firms.
Yeah that’s called economies of scale, these are not big in all industries and barriers of entry are also not big in all industries. So your argument is a good argument for why we have antitrust laws and why we need some companies and industries to be publicly owned, but this is not the case for every industry.
So what does your analysis of wealth concentration say? Has every capitalist country had increased wealth concentration? What type of wealth has increased in concentration?
Different industries and sectors gradually scale differently, but all move towards concentration. This is consistent and graduated. Every Capitalist country has regularly seen this gradual concentration over time, even if temporary shifts against this trend happen.
Again, without an analysis of political power and taking an agnostic attitude towards production, you have what can sound to liberals as a good idea but is ultimately not a real answer. If the Proletariat cannot wrest control, all regulations and taxes will be enacted in a manner that suits the Capitalists in control if you get far enough in the first place. Wealth will continue to accumulate, as the entire M-C-M’ circuit is based on growth in scale of profit, not steady cashflow.
The Marxist position isn’t that moving towards full public ownership immediately is a practical solution, but that this is a gradual process that starts with the proletariat siezing control. I recommend you actually engage with Marxist theory.