Same with any economic system though. The powerful will always take from the weak, will always find ways to make their own rules. Capitalistic competition works, but only in tandem with a government that reigns it in. Which democracy is supposed to have done.

Yeah, so maybe use an economic system that does not allow a bunch of people to accumulate the wealth of thousands?

Its pretty clear that "democracy" wont be working when to protect it you have to put in a stupid amount of man hours by volunteers and organizers.

Which then, can and will be, wiped out in one dinner party with one of the good ol' boys.

This is working as intended.

Impossible when our educational systems are crippled from toddler on up.

Again, the issues are so much deeper, and more long standing than "toddler on up."

The defunding of education is intentional.

This is not a flaw in the system, this is not a recent phenomenon, this was planned for decades.

Younger people around here can't know the America I knew. We scrutinized and denied mergers. We were taught as small children that monopolies were poison. We were taught of the robber barons and of the Gilded Age, taught about the labor struggles and deadly fights to get what we got. FFS, we had a choice in banks.

Your oligarchs were older, more traumatised by mass leftist movements, their power was less concentrated.

Then they started out what they could get away with, and have not stopped since. They will keep taking, until there is nothing left to take, and then they will not stop.

Your schooling was propaganda. There was never any intention for the talks about freedom and democracy to amount to anything.

For one bright moment we had Lina Khan, Biden's FTC chair, fighting hard. My fucking hero. First thing I thought when I awoke to a second Trump win, "There she goes. Our last, best hope."

These are people who are at best trying to keep up appearances. But don't think at all that they want anything to be better for you.

At best they are trying to keep up appearances of that system you were taught about at school.

That system does not exist, and they hate you.

Same with any economic system though

Agreed. For years I've been saying that without well maintained controls, the end result of capitalism and socialism will look pretty much the same.