i like to believe that the captains of industry during the gilded era would have continued as they were forever. but i think it's just as likely they hadn't stumbled upon the highly refined rent seeking that our modern economy now is. instead of people like carnegie building out industry to create more tangible goods and services, modern capitalists just try to carve out a market with legal constructs, and then maximize margins until their legally protected monopoly is disrupted by some other asshole's rent seeking 'innovation'. intellectual property rights, and obvious corruption in government (insider trading among politicians, and the revolving door of government officials into highly paid 'consultants' for business) need to be heavily reformed. at minimum, our patents need to stop protecting niche shit for decades. i kept wondering why these shitty robot lawnmowers were so expensive, and it's because some faggot has a patent on some fundamental aspect of robotic lawnmowers(i think it was basically a patent on navigation for a robotic lawnmower or some shit), and it won't expire for another decade or so.
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