"The free market does not tend towards monopoly or oligopoly. If any one player is gaining market power and capturing a lot of consumer surplus, then competition will eventually find a route around that and supply an alternative with better value. This has been proven time and time again."
I don't think I could disagree with that specific statement more than I do (even though I agree with some of your others, and your opening line). In order to accept those words I would have to ignore the existence of monarchies, dictators, cartels, and simple things like the phrase "the rich get richer." Our society and economies are structures imposed on the true mathematical and physical chaos of space and organic chemistry.
I agree with some of what you say ("Reduce the size and reach of the state, and you make it impossible for rent-seeking behaviour to occur, because there is no structure to support it."), but I would note that there are some things that individuals simply cannot do alone, the most important of which is holding the power of monopolies/oligopolies accountable. I would rather not call that government, simply a group action, but it still amounts to a common banner. Unfortunately, any organized power will only continue to claw for more power. Government won't limit itself. In that sense, I agree that it seems necessary to withdraw that power substantially and regularly from government, but I also see the renewal of that power as inevitable in order to prevent abuse in some other area. ("The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.")
Unfortunately we have a disadvantageously simple language of left vs right, all or none, (leading to extreme communism or extreme capitalism - for example, Ayn Rand vs Marx - both of which lead to the same totalitarianism), rather than focusing on the philosophical middle and economic nursery conditions where growth is possible, fair, and competitive. It is constantly necessary to destroy our last great success in order to make room for the next one (to focus on beneficial endevours). It is also our choice how long we avoid that renewal, and how big an undertaking it must be to move forward.
I don't think I could disagree with that specific statement more than I do (even though I agree with some of your others, and your opening line). In order to accept those words I would have to ignore the existence of monarchies, dictators, cartels, and simple things like the phrase "the rich get richer." Our society and economies are structures imposed on the true mathematical and physical chaos of space and organic chemistry.
I agree with some of what you say ("Reduce the size and reach of the state, and you make it impossible for rent-seeking behaviour to occur, because there is no structure to support it."), but I would note that there are some things that individuals simply cannot do alone, the most important of which is holding the power of monopolies/oligopolies accountable. I would rather not call that government, simply a group action, but it still amounts to a common banner. Unfortunately, any organized power will only continue to claw for more power. Government won't limit itself. In that sense, I agree that it seems necessary to withdraw that power substantially and regularly from government, but I also see the renewal of that power as inevitable in order to prevent abuse in some other area. ("The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.")
Unfortunately we have a disadvantageously simple language of left vs right, all or none, (leading to extreme communism or extreme capitalism - for example, Ayn Rand vs Marx - both of which lead to the same totalitarianism), rather than focusing on the philosophical middle and economic nursery conditions where growth is possible, fair, and competitive. It is constantly necessary to destroy our last great success in order to make room for the next one (to focus on beneficial endevours). It is also our choice how long we avoid that renewal, and how big an undertaking it must be to move forward.