[phh]

> * Isn't the US the great bastion of the free market, rugged capitalism, entrepreneurial spirit etc etc etc? I mean at least that's what I see all the people on here claiming vis-a-vis why SV is better than everyone else.

I'm fairly new to US point of view (as in, I witness it only since like 10 years ago), but I feel like this has evolved, and the actual theories of "free market" (which include not having roadblocks, promoting SMBs because of diminishing returns , the need to inform the consumers, the integration of externalities in the taxes) are getting more and more support in the US, especially in SV. I think this has been severely pushed by US' Healthcare sector, where there is no obvious blatant anti competitive behaviors, but have profound negative impact on US society. I think conglomerates killing small useful services by providing the same for free (but bad and without any further innovation) have also had impact there. I'm sure most people on HN has a service in their mind that used to be great, that got killed by Google doing the same for free, but that got enshittified and they are sad the original service is dead.