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TB's avatar

At the point when they discovered they could make money more easily by lobbying and co-opting the government instead of actually competing in the market. (As to an actual year, that would require more research, but certainly it's decades at least at this point, but arguably it's always been with us to some degree - think "mercantilism" and Royal Patent rights to trade in certain goods, etc.)

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Diana Barahona's avatar

Forming monopolies and taking over states is a DESIGN FEATURE of capitalism. Do you imagine there's some kind of a rule book, and that if the capitalist class breaks your imaginary rules they magically turn into Bolsheviks? Remember how the game of Monopoly ends? One player owns everything and the rest go bankrupt.

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