Our Mafioso Economy
Extortion is the keystone of America's Mafioso Economy.
And scene: here are the dons, each the ruthless head of their own vast organization, seated next to their wives in a show of bourgeois respectability, assembled by invitation to kiss the ring of the Godfather. This isn't just fiction, of course; we've all seen the photo of America's Big Tech dons, wives in tow, lined up in a display of billionaire obeisance.
We all know the drill: give the Godfather respect and his cut, and you can return to your extractive monopoly confident that nobody is going to interrupt your grift.
Welcome to America's Mafioso Economy, where monopolies are free to extract vast fortunes via addiction (pharmaceuticals, social media, gaming, pornography, gambling, entertainment, etc.), predatory pricing (oops, I mean dynamic pricing), shoddy goods and services, shakedowns, and of course, extortion: offers you can't refuse.
For example, that software you could buy and use for years until the Mafioso Monopoly obsoleted it? Now you have to rent it. It's called a subscription service, which is like calling the addict's next hit of smack a subscription service. You have a need, and the Mafioso Monopoly will service your need, but monthly. So what once cost $200 now extracts $1,000 from your earnings. Same product (or worse), but now it costs a lot more.
That's America's Mafioso Economy in a nutshell: same product or service, but now it costs more. And since the Mafioso Monopolies bought up all their competitors (an offer you can't refuse), there's no where else to turn, except perhaps another Mafioso member of a cartel.
It's not just pay to play--you have to pay just to enter the auction of political favors. The Clinton Foundation set a new standard of Mafioso malignancy: "donate" to the foundation if you want access, then "donate" more if you want some actual action.
Extortion is the keystone of America's Mafioso Economy. Apply a little pressure, make an offer they can't refuse, and voila. Nice little business / institution you got there, too bad it's about to be gutted by some new regulations or executive actions. There is a way to make it all go away, but it's going to cost you.
Extortion pricing is Corporate America's playbook. Since every corporation Mafia deploys the same algos and extractive exploitation strategies, our choice boils down to which paddock we enter to get sheared.
Our Stasi-style surveillance and AI-powered algos have detected you can pay more than your fellow debt-serfs, so the price of your airline seat, or grocery item, is higher than the other customers. It's not extortion because you could go to another member of the Mafia cartel, but alas, they use the same dynamic pricing, so too bad you passed up that initial price, now it's even higher.
Junk fees abound because we have no choice. Where else can you buy a ticket to that concert you absolutely must attend? How about switching electrical utilities to get a better deal? Monopolies abound because they're the foundation of America's Mafioso Economy.
Darth Vader understood the Empire is also a Mafioso structure. Once you gain power over supply and governance, then you're free to alter the deal at will. I have altered the deal, pray I don't alter it further.
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