@Iveyline @randahl In most industries, we don't have competition anymore.We either have a monopolist, or up to four massive corporations in an oligopoly.The past 30 years if neoliberal "free market" ideology has seen competition/antitrust regulations ignored and defanged, self-regulation become a norm, and workers' collective power in unions broken.Meanwhile, market power has concentrated in fewer hands.In theory, competition means businesses are competing to provide consumers with better products and services.In practice, what happens is the oligarchic corporations are in a race to the bottom, enshittifying products and services for profit.What are you going to do as a consumer? Switch to the other corporation that's enshittified its products and services the same way?

@tofm2 @randahl it's a loan to be repaid out of the war reparation money eventually paid by Russia, if anyso not really a loan loan

@randahl I think on mastodon it has always been a cultural limit and not a technical one, so yeah, still meaningful.but then, I'm writing from Friendica, and we have no limits :D