[dcewcrrec]

We've entered an awkward twilight zone where companies can do what they want a la Laissez-faire capitalism, which means they can also do exactly the same thing a government would do at exactly the same scale and with similar levels of authority. It is a grey area that hasn't yet been stopped by laws because sometimes companies are so big they influence the laws themselves.

[chordalkeyboard]

Everything you have said except for the last phrase “ sometimes companies are so big they influence the laws themselves“ is false. There are a fantastic amount of regulations in every western country today, many of which are applied arbitrarily or with enough discretion that they are essentially arbitrary. Even the most massive corporations market caps are dwarfed by the monthly spending of government. The only cases where corporations exert the powers if the state over detention and violence are occasions where they do so at the bidding of the state.

It is true that some corporations are so big that they influence lawmakers just as ultra wealthy people always have. Indeed, if corporations were able to do the same things governments did and with the same authority, this process of influencing the government would be unnecessary.

[Shared404]

Just enough regulations to get the worst of unregulated and regulated capitalism, at least if my understanding is correct.

[chordalkeyboard]

yes, and whether this reflects poorly on capitalism, democracy, regulations, the corporate structure in a given country, the people in a given corporation, or the system as a whole depends to a large extent on your priors.