“What happens in other forms of government–namely, that an organized minority imposes its will on the disorganized majority–happens also and to perfection, whatever the appearances to the contrary, under the representative system. When we say that the voters “choose” their representative, we are using a language that is very inexact. The truth is that the representative has himself elected by the voters, and, if that phrase should seem too inflexible and too harsh to fit some cases, we might qualify it by saying that his friends have him elected. In elections, as in all other manifestations of social life, those who have the will and, especially, the moral, intellectual and material means to force their will upon others take the lead over the others and command them.”
power
Dedra Meero and the Banality of Evil /
“What’s great about her character is that she does not see herself as evil. She absolutely believes in the Imperial Project and works tirelessly to uphold its values and dominance. She isn’t a cackling sorcerer or a witch. She’s a bureaucrat, which is to say she is the “banality of evil” incarnate. It is the Dedras of this world who cut people off from their bank accounts and place question marks against people’s names and files. It is the Dedras who carefully sift through data sheets inspecting compliance and malleability in populations. This is how we live now and it’s getting exponentially worse year after year. Of course, this all depends on where you stand in relation to the wants and whims of Power: if you’re compliant then you’re okay; if you’re thinking critically and speaking out loud, too bad for you. Or, as we are told, there will be consequences for your speech.”
The Myth of the Free Market /
In a recent conversation with Auron MacIntyre, streamed on YouTube, Academic Agent made the following twelve points to refute the claim that there is such a thing as the “free market.” These assertions are largely self-explanatory and make a compelling case. I record them here for posterity and encourage you to listen to the conversation.
There has never been, and can never be, a state of affairs that is “pre-political.” As such, there will always be a set of rulers who will–ten times out of ten–intervene in the business of resource allocation (Mosca, Pareto)
The will of the stock market reflects neither the needs and wants of consumers nor the allocations of resources that reflect the underlying fundamental performances of the companies represented by equities.
The “public company” created by the IPO is a product of law, not of free-market transactions, and is therefore a function of the state. The private-public distinction is lost as soon as this takes place. (C.A. Bond)
Mass shareholders lose functional control over companies to the managerial class according to the Iron law of Oligarchy (“he who says organisation says oligarchy”–Michels) who no longer run it "for profit" but rather for the expansion of managerial power. (Burnham)
To compound this, limited liability laws remove accountability or “material feedback” for managers and employees of every large firm.
In addition, massive asset management firms (Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street) are now so large that they can dictate the market for any given share through effective control of institutional investors across every sector and indirect control through the “waves and ripples” any movement they make will create for the rest of the market.
Through these mechanisms and even attempts to formalise them (ESG), managers can inflate stocks for bogus companies who create zero real value (think: the entire green sector grift); 87% of Silicon Valley firms never see a profit yet their share prices have been greatly inflated for over a decade. It is driven by ideology, not “what customers want.”
On top of this, managers-in-government (see Fed, Central Banks) can work with managers-in-finance (see Blackrock, Vanguard) to topple any rogue CEO (see current Tesla stock price) or even any rogue government (see Bank of England & market vs. Liz Truss),
The Iron Law of Oligarchy extends also to the consumer level. It is not the consumers who are “sovereign,” but the purchasing managers of a supermarket who dictate which good see the shelves and which do not. Even if there were massive market demand for, say, Alex Jones, the Apple “supermarket” is not going to allow it on the shelf; it is the same with any consumer good.
Consumers are effectively trained as cattle into long-term purchasing habits that are nearly perfectly predictable by companies who produce those goods. Most markets have a market leader with 70% share (a “Coke”), a number 2 brand with 29% share (a “Pepsi”), and then the rest of the market which makes up the other 1%.
Even if consumers were not cattle, but perfectly rational actors, most of the leading firms are now so big that they are impossible to boycott, P&G is the best recent example following the Gillette ad which lost $8 billion and the CEO was not even fired, said he'd “do it again.” P&G can eat that up (“Go Woke, Go Broke” is cope!)
Economies of scale grant market leaders leverage which extends the Iron Law of Oligarchy up and down the supply chain. Tesco or Salnsbury's have such leverage over farmers that they dictate the wholesale prices of goods. Ford Motor Company is so big it is the only customer for many of its suppliers, and could bankrupt them in days if they did not accept their terms. No supermarket wants Coca-Cola pulling out of its stores, etc.
Where does it all lead to, this unending war waged by Power against the other authorities which society throws up? /
“In the destruction of all other command for the benefit of one alone–that of the state. In each man’s absolute freedom from every family and social authority, a freedom the price of which is complete submission to the state. In the complete equality as between themselves of all citizens, paid for by their equal abasement before the power of their absolute master–the state. In the disappearance of every constraint which does not emanate from the state, and in the denial of every pre-eminence which is not approved by the state. In a word, it ends in the atomization of society, and in the rupture of every private tie linking man and man, whose only bond is now their common bondage to the state. The extremes of individualism and socialism meet: that was their predestined course.”
Whosoever champions speech has not power /
Power universally proscribes speech because it can. Only the powerless take refuge in “freedom of speech,” which is in fact illusory.