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by int_19h 414 days ago
Free (as in competitive) markets are indeed great, but capitalism is not free markets. It is, in fact, antithetical to them, since what capitalism really is about is a property rights system that allows for unlimited accumulation of capital (hence the name!), which inevitably leads to its aggregation in the hands of a few monopolists who then strangle said free market.

Free markets themselves, though, are a concept far older than capitalism, and are compatible with a broad variety of economic systems, including many forms of socialism and left-wing anarchism - e.g. Proudhon, the granddaddy of modern anarchist thought, was very much anti-capitalist and pro-free-market.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-libertarianism#Free-marke...