[voisin]

> the capitalistic nature of US

Am I the only one that finds this branding of the US being a capitalist haven to be complete and utter bullshit? Companies regularly and in the open bribe (sorry, “lobby”) politicians for changes to regulation to give them unfair advantages, externalizer costs, etc etc. Walmart, a bastion of low price capitalism, relies heavily on a workforce on government food stamps to operate. Private and public utilities get politicians to pass laws making it more difficult to install solar. Car dealerships with political clout force companies like Tesla to sell through their channels or leave the state. Etc etc etc. Not a day goes by that I don’t see articles that support this and yet everyone still pretends the US is capitalist to its core!

[NoZebra120vClip]

We are a nation founded upon the love of money. We take Pride in these humble roots, and we celebrate every three-day weekend at the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet.

[DarkNova6]

It is capitalistic in the sense that people with large capital make the big decisions. It's easy to pay off politicians if there are only 2 sides. Heck, a manager from Blackrock just recently blatently stated that its easy to buy a Senator. For just 10k you got him in your pocket.

And what are called "political donations", would fall under the law of corruption in many European countries.

[User23]

> Heck, a manager from Blackrock just recently blatently stated that its easy to buy a Senator. For just 10k you got him in your pocket.

This is one of many reasons I’m convinced our government is kayfabe at this point. Nobody who was truly making the calls on a trillion dollar budget would sell for that cheap. The general pro wrestling level of discourse is another reason, but there are many more.

[angarg12]

It's a matter of degrees. I've been to truly "communist" countries (e.g. Cuba), and lived in several European countries, and without a doubt US has a much more capitalist bend.

[specialist]

Freemium Markets™, aka Pay to Play.