[rglullis]

The ability to collect taxes was shorthand for "the right to use force to compel you to do things as they see fit".

Amazon can not compel you to buy from them, and Amazon can not throw you in jail if they don't like you as a customer.

Mining personal data and using it against the interests of the individual is bad in both cases, but it is far more dangerous when done by the State.

[guerrilla]

> Amazon can not compel you to buy from them, and Amazon can not throw you in jail if they don't like you as a customer.

Of course they can, by becoming a monopoly and driving all other options for things you need out of business. Also by manipulating you with advertisements and propaganda. Coercion has many forms.

[rglullis]

Last I checked, it is still illegal to have a monopoly and the government can break a company apart if it starts abusing its power.

Now, who can break the Government apart if it starts abusing its power?

[guerrilla]

If you had checked, you'd know monopolies are not illegal. It's discretionary regulation and impotent in many cases. Power comes in many forms.

States fall for many reasons, but primarily causes are war and revolution (which are sometimes the same thing.)

[rglullis]

Monopolies are illegal if established through improper conduct and anti-competitive practices. The exceptions would be for State-owned or State-granted monopolies... Amazon is neither of those.

> States fall for many reasons, but primarily causes are war and revolution

So, the way to get rid of Amazon would be to get the Government to simply start a judicial process against a company. The way to get rid of the Government would require bloodshed. Can we agree that that n corrupt and power-abusive Government is far more dangerous than Amazon (or any other corporation) could ever be?

[guerrilla]

> Monopolies are illegal if

You're moving the goalpost and still wrong [1]. I don't know why you want to talk about this so badly if you don't know what you're talking about. Anyway, as I said, it's discretionary regulation and power comes in many forms.

> The way to get rid of the Government would require bloodshed.

You don't need to get rid of "the government" if you control the state and everyone's minds via lobbying, corruption, propaganda and other means.

> Can we agree that that n corrupt and power-abusive Government is far more dangerous than Amazon (or any other corporation) could ever be?

Absolutely not. "The government" is the puppet, the owners of companies like Amazon are the puppeteers. Power comes in many forms. Coercion comes in many forms.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_antitrust_law

[rglullis]

You are the one that brought the thing about monopolies, and you still haven't brought up any strong argument that Amazon has a de facto monopoly. And you also are going to have an even harder time to make a case that Amazon should be convicted for anti-competitive practices.

(Also, let's not get into the fact that the news are about changes in Denmark and you are using an wikipedia link to argue about US Antitrust Law. The world does not spin around D.C)

So, yeah, we can drop the talk about monopolies.

> power comes in many forms.

I'm not arguing about power by itself. I'm arguing about how dangerous an institution can be if they abuse the power they do have. You and I might dislike all the data collecting from Amazon (and Google et caterva), but none of them can put me in jail. The Government can. And since you want to think of terms of American politics: think of all the abuses that were made in the name of "The War on Terror" and "The War of Drugs". Don't forget the Obama administration getting the IRS to go after Tea Party organizations.

Mind you, this is no way a defense of the corporations, and I already have an idea of how I would like to see people fighting the concentration of power [0]. But I find weird seeing people who understand how bad it can be when power gets too concentrated in the hands of a few, and yet they just want to put it all in the hands of the government, the one entity they have no recourse against. To me, those wishing to give the government more power than it already has shows a case of naivety at best and a serious authoritarian inclination at worst.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31317641