[deogeo]

Yes, lets keep hoping the Market will solve everything, and that somehow, the trend of consolidation will magically reverse itself on its own, despite how ever fewer companies control each market. Wouldn't want to realize people have more power than just what they buy.

[DickingAround]

The power to walk away and not buy is an almost ultimate power; and companies/everyone does respond aggressively to it.

It is extreme hubris to think you can use some other power to get consumers a product that they magically want more than the one they're going to choose to spend their own money on. People value their money; they'll try and get the best value they can for it.

[deogeo]

Extreme hubris, like food safety regulations? Car safety regulations? Right to repair laws? Truth in advertising laws? Bans on toxic chemicals in paint and toys? Worker protection laws?

All of those things, people could have simply chosen not to buy, or not buy from companies employing those practices, yet it took laws (i.e. collective action and organization), to affect them. Telling people to limit themselves to "simply not buying", is telling them to only use forms of protest that have been repeatedly proven not to work.

Don't like companies hiring paramilitary squads to kill union members [1]? Just don't buy Coca-Cola! Spend hours or weeks of research for every minor purchase or risk funding something abhorrent - just God forbid you pass any laws!

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/jul/24/marketingandpr...

[kapuasuite]

Why not loosen copyrights and other restrictions that make third party services impossible or impractical?