[4RealFreedom]

That could be viewed as a piece of "late stage capitalism" but that's only one part, right? The problem with the term is it's a catch-all for any perceived problem with capitalism. Maybe that issue is just a capitalism speed bump. As I said, we won't know we're in late stage until after the collapse.

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

It's 'late' as in a stage that comes after the earlier stages. A collapse isn't guaranteed nor inevitable. There could just be a continual freezing out of competition until all that's left are entrenched classes of 'capital owners / rent extractors' living large, and everyone else struggling to get by. With modern computer-aided surveillance and monitoring and compliance capabilities, the capital owners could maintain the system pretty effectively. No collapse, just a a slow slide into well managed misery.

[4RealFreedom]

There will always be "haves" and "have nots". That's been the case since forever. Standard Oil ruled the world. AT&T did, too. I agree that monopolies are bad. We should pressure our government to break them up. Will that help with people trying to find jobs in an inferior job market? That's where this conversation started. We need a strong job market. Competition can help that. We will always have bad job markets, though. It's part of the cycle. Nothing lasts forever.