Perhaps it's also time for a new generation of antitrust protections with our newer, expanded understanding about how companies undermine competition: oligpolies that are technically not monopolies, price collusion (rather than explicit price fixing), undercutting to extreme levels to put others out of business, SLAPP lawsuits, etc. If we're going insist on a "free market", then a highly competitive market is in our best interest.

I've been very critical of the Biden reelection campaign, but the thing that has put me at ease is the FTC going full tilt after very obviously anti-competitive behavior.

Is it full-tilt or is it just enough of measures to get through election season and then it's business as usual?

I don't see any FAANGs being broken up by antitrust, even though that point has been well overdue for nearly a decade. It honestly should have been done ever since those CEO emails about poaching talent came out.

Meanwhile they're grifting on collecting information from the entire population of North America, amassing untold wealth and influence.

Perhaps it's time to just admit that monopolies are the inevitable end result of capitalism, its natural state - and all attempts at anti-trust are basically treating the symptoms rather than the disease.

That's just about as totally wrong as one can be.

There were thousands of independent bookstores, record stores, hardware stores, you name it.

The oligopolies are criminals, period. Th eUS population is so distracted with the computer in their hand, and regulators so allured to the prospect of the revolving door, that there has been no adequate response...

Capitalism is generally good at the startup scale, to figure out who has the best ideas. Once we have collectively decided (or was forced into) a single or a few implementations, good job, you won! Now you are non-profit / state-owned company / worker coop.