This fabulous potpourri of initiatives mixes critical efforts and constructive efforts; and mentions efforts that don’t yet distinguish the two.
Potential solutions to corporate concentration can’t want to lose the efficiencies that benefit consumers through economies of scale.
More aggressive antitrust enforcement of existing regulations probably annul lots of need for new kinds of solutions.
The better ecosystem shouldn’t be conceived as primarily a Movement politics, because dense issues of law and economics are part of any effective (and progressive) ecology.
So, the community of scholars in all of this face issues of conception that must be translatable into progressively pragmatic policies, as well as public engagement. A massive public mandate itself isn’t going to evince difficult solutions vis-à-vis complex political economics.
Yet, building political might is vital, obviously. But it must complement progressive practice—be informed by public mandate, but be educational and effective for practice.
Old notions of opposition and critique are ultimately self-undermining if they’re not supplements to knowledge-based solutions with expert translation into practice.
“Critical looks” and public debate must serve educational leadership about working well. So much “progressive” talk is still caught in the last century (e.g., “democratic socialism”).
Nebulous notions of “taking on the power” of corporate concentration is a music of naïveté to corporate lobbyists.
Amazon has many competitors, such as Target, Walmart, and thousands of specialty online retailers. Amazon has revolutionized retail marketing, and thanks to them we enjoy lower prices and better services. The biggest problem with Amazon is that their employees are not yet unionized. Trump and the GOP are making it more and more difficult for unions to function - that's the biggest part of the problem.
2
American capitalism is shooting it's own foot by allowing oligopolies destroy healthy competition, and by not cutting down the poverty resultant from the deep inequalities of this system. Trouble is, that in the name of social justice, we are allowing private enterprises, usually controlled by corporate plutocrats, to dictate what must be done...without consulting the public, where real politics takes place. And usually providing little in return of what they took in the first place.
2
If we didn’t have such an elite political class, out of touch with every issue that impacts working people, we wouldn’t need the wealthy and their foundations to set things right. And since the wants of the wealthy are at odds with the needs of most Americans, one has to wonder how sincere they are about setting things right?
How about just having the government forcing these monopolies to be broken up? It wouldn’t be the first time.
4