zlacker

There's no such thing as late stage capitalism. There's ebbs and flows, businesses that were formerly great (like newspapers), fade out and go out of business. New forms of media take their place, the cream rises to the top, the train keeps going.

>>chrisc+(OP)
In our case I think late stage capitalism is what we are calling the combination of extremely low interest rates, low tax rates on the super-rich, and a lack of antitrust enforcement. The rich get richer, the middle class gets gutted, and nobody is incentivized to care any more.

>>chrisc+(OP)
There definitely is. The contradictions inherent to capitalism are becoming harder and harder to ignore, to the point where we're all in a state of hypernormalisation. Everyone knows the system is broken, yet we pretend it isn't, because to think of an alternative is too scary.

>>chrisc+(OP)
>There's no such thing late stage capitalism

I'd wager you'd argue there was such a thing as late stage socialism, no? You're inability to imagine anything else than capitalism is a fallacy. Google Capitalist Realism.

>the cream rises to the top

No it doesn't. Success is largely determined by who had access to the most capital, or who was able to build a moat around themselves fast enough. The meritocracy people love to imagine they live in, is nothing more than a myth for a majority of people.

>>amanap+C5
> extremely low interest rates

Citation needed. The current mortgage rate is 6.8% for 30 years.

> a lack of antitrust enforcement

Citation needed. Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple are all in court for antitrust cases.

>>warkda+c11
>in court for <insert> cases

Being brought to court is not the same as being brought to justice. Look at our president, he's been to court a lot--been indicted even--and he's still in the fucking oval office. These companies will get a slap on the wrist and nothing will change.

>>warkda+c11
That's a mortgage rate. Interest rates are usually described generally by using the Treasury rate, which is currently hovering around 4%, which is on the low side of the long-term historical average, which is more like 8% and has been up to 15%. A few years ago, it was 2%. The jump up to 4% is a reversal of a decades-long downward trend, which occurs because more money is in circulation each year, relative to the amount of money the government spends.

Antitrust enforcement is when it's enforced. Court cases are merely attempted enforcement so far.