libertarians say monopolies only exist w/ gubberment, but doesn't the fact that gubberments have to trust bust and break up monopolies to create fake competition suggest the opposite

@augustus here's a good quick article about this topic: https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/the-misplaced-fear-of-monopoly/

if you want more technical papers or references, just ask.

@lain i agree with his args about predatory pricing. i'm more interested in libertarian attitudes towards trust-busting and breaking up monopolies though, like Standard Oil. free marketers generally don't like monopolies but i can't imagine they like using gov to break them up either. i can already imagine them using arguments like "no actually standard oil was the most efficient company and the ebil gov decided to kill them for no reason"

@augustus @lain Nassim Taleb is relatively libertarian-leaning and he writes at length about the benefits of consumer protection laws.

It's also the one area where I think the EU is doing an ok job.

@jcbrand @augustus nassim taleb is an IYI

@lain @jcbrand @augustus I've been waiting for this convo for bloody ages

somewhere around covid he started to cuck for the man

respect the guy but he got a hard on for deep state vibes real quick

@skells @lain @jcbrand he has the peter hitchens thing of being addicted to arguing with people over random shit, and will sometimes take the dumbest positions ever just so he can flex his argument muscles

@augustus @lain @jcbrand I still check out his nitter, he's pro almost everything I'm against these days but you can never dismiss his arguements out of hand, he usually has a point

@augustus @lain @jcbrand sometimes I wonder if it's an elaborate troll/heel vibe he's going for to maximize his contribution to the important shit

@skells @lain @jcbrand he specifically said one time that he is overly aggressive with people just to increase the cost of people taking issue with him over anything

@augustus @lain @skells

Yes, there is a method or strategy (not sure the right word) there.

He believes idiots and charlatans are dangerous to society and need to be attacked and ridiculed mercilessly to limit the damage they can inflict.

He's become a caricature though and unpleasant to witness on Twitter.

@jcbrand @augustus @lain and he has a point
> I want to be able to be as flawed as possible while remaining antifragile
so on his own terms I'd say he's smashing it

the good thing about his methods is that they are robust to his conclusions:
https://youtu.be/gAlHjWctpLw

if you watch this and ignore his bias, keeping in mind what we're seeing in myocarditis and mysterious deaths correlated with the vaccine, the conclusion speaks loud and clear despite his opinion.