This term has been getting stuck in my craw lately: “crony capitalism.” It’s used by self-described libertarians I know to characterize capitalism under regulations that create a playing field tilted in the favor of oligarchs and megacorps. The reason it bothers me is that it’s a patch to hide their cognitive dissonance. It lets them maintain their faith in the Unseen Hand of the Free Market by dismissing the real-world effects of capitalism as aberrations. I called it a distinction without a difference once, but that makes it sound innocuous. In reality, conjuring that distinction perpetuates the destruction of our world.
"crony capitalism"
"crony capitalism"
"crony capitalism"
This term has been getting stuck in my craw lately: “crony capitalism.” It’s used by self-described libertarians I know to characterize capitalism under regulations that create a playing field tilted in the favor of oligarchs and megacorps. The reason it bothers me is that it’s a patch to hide their cognitive dissonance. It lets them maintain their faith in the Unseen Hand of the Free Market by dismissing the real-world effects of capitalism as aberrations. I called it a distinction without a difference once, but that makes it sound innocuous. In reality, conjuring that distinction perpetuates the destruction of our world.