[lumost]

Tesla and similar companies really make me wonder if we still live in a capitalist system. If wealth is sufficiently concentrated - the value of anything becomes tied to the whims of the few who can transact at that level.

How a stock goes up while sales growth, profitability, and other measures go down on a multi-year trajectory defies my understanding.

[BigTTYGothGF]

> If wealth is sufficiently concentrated - the value of anything becomes tied to the whims of the few who can transact at that level.

Sounds like capitalism to me.

[monooso]

> If wealth is sufficiently concentrated - the value of anything becomes tied to the whims of the few who can transact at that level.

You just described a capitalist system: a system built and controlled by and for those who control the capital.

[tirant]

Same as any other economic system: power is usually concentrated around a very small group of people. In socialism and communism, that concentration typically occurs within the party leadership or central planning apparatus.

However, in free-market capitalism, anyone is allowed to participate in capital formation and accumulation. Ownership is not formally restricted to a political class. Entry into markets is open in principle (unless it stops being a free market), and capital allocation is decentralized through free and voluntary exchange rather than administrative decree.

That does not mean capitalism eliminates power concentration, as Wealth can accumulate and translate into political influence. But the mechanism of power differs: In centrally planned systems, control flows from political authority. In market systems, control flows from voluntary transactions and competitive success.

[lm28469]

Have you ever witnessed any other version of capitalism? Do you believe in the invisible hand of the free market? It's neither invisible nor free

[gadflyinyoureye]

Please read that text. It explicitly calls for reasonable government oversight.

[moomin]

One of the things I’ve noticed is that when leftists say “capitalism” they often mean “the ability of capital to set the rules of markets” rather than just “markets”. This causes people who use the latter interpretation and leftists to talk past one another quite a bit. Which is one of the reasons that leftists have sounded this alarm bell for at least twenty years and no-one has paid attention.

[api]

When leftists say "capitalism" they mean something closer to what conservatives and free market libertarians mean by "fascism."

[speed_spread]

Capitalism is a big money party. Leftists are the party poopers, actually just slightly less drunk than the rest of the guests, and pointing out that lighting up fireworks indoors isn't a good idea. Booo-hooo, shut up lefty! *BANG*