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That’s basically what I’m saying, though this is a problem that has always existed in the US and isn’t just something that’s started recently. It’s also a problem that is unevenly distributed along racial, ethnic, ableist, and sexual lines.
Essentially, all agreements are coerced by the surrounding material conditions, which themselves are created by private property. I can’t just go out into the woods and catch food, I need a permit or permission from the local land owner. I can’t just tear up the ground and grow crops, I need to own the land or make a business arrangement with the person who does own the land.
Society is run by petty tyrants, the fact that my Lord is a business owner instead of a member of government makes no difference to me.
Man I wish I weren’t so sleep deprived. These are all good points, though I feel I have a response to them after having wrestled with them for many years.
Just imagine I’m way better at articulating this than I actually am right now. Imagine a well-structured response to that is built around these points:
I think I better keep it to one point at a time. Basic thesis here: comparing life of relative bondage under free market to hypothetical life without bondage is unrealistic. No such life exists.
Capitalism produces great wealth. We are free from seeking food. That’s huge.
Animals are a lot less numerous and a lot easier to deal with than humans in society. A lot of people would genuinely be better off back in nature and out of society.
I don’t disagree - I’m not some anarcho-primitivist that desires a return to hunter/gatherer tribal life. Civilization is good!
My disagreement comes from the hostility to government authority while accepting privatized authority. The government is at least democratic. I get to vote on who runs my city and state and country. I don’t get to vote for my boss or my landlord, making private authority inherently tyrannical.
And before you say the free market gives me the freedom to seek a different boss or landlord, that’s only possible if I uproot my entire life and move to a different area. Imagine if we didn’t get to vote on our government and instead just were expected to flee the country if we don’t like it!
Democracy is good, and capitalism is not democratic. Instead you vote with your wallet, which means us poors don’t get a say.