And you are watching it at work right now. In capitalism would you like to guess who holds all of the power? Surprise it actually isnt the companies, yes companies are trying to make money, but the way they do this and stay alive is with customers. Which is why the golden rule for successful companies is the customer is always right (even if they are wrong). Consumers hold all of the power in a capitalist society, because no customers equals no business, it is as simple as that.

Your naïveté is striking. Look at the state of our global economy and tell me the consumer has all the power. Next thing you're gonna tell me we live in a pure democracy and that the orange menace really has my best interests at heart.

Well seeing as every person still holds to ability to choose what they buy and even whether or not they buy makes it pretty clear that the consumer does in fact still have complete power. It is why when target ran a charity campaign that people didnt agree with, they immediately went back on it, because they were losing customers. It is the same reason why microsoft completely changed its plans for the xbox one when they sqe the huge backlash from their ideas. If consumers didnt hold all the power than microsoft could have easily just gone forward with their ideas and been fine, but that just isnt the case. In fact consumers hold so much power that in places like the united states consumers are even able to choose not to buy things that they actually do need. For example you can choose not to buy the immunizations your new born baby needs. Its and idiotic decision but one you are permitted to make because you are free to do so and have the power to do so. I personally dont buy things that i dont want. Sure i see commercials for them all the time, and yet i still choose not to buy them. I dont buy cologne, because i dont want to. I dont buy or drink alcohol, because i dont like the taste and so i dont spend money on it. I dont buy cigarettes because i dont want to. And i dont gamble, simply because i dont want to. If people dont want a product there is nothing forcing them to buy it. If there was something forcing them then big companies wouldnt fail. The large automotive companies wouldnt have had to go beg their governments for a loan (as one good example). TV/cable companies wouldnt be in big trouble, and constantly losing customers. The simple fact is that as long as customers have the freedom to choose what they buy and even whether they buy at all, they hold every bit of power over companies. If people wanted to they could easily shutdown stores like walmart, but people dont want to, they balue the lowest prices over everything else. They dont care if walmart uses dirty business practices and actively tries to shut down smaller stores, if they did they wouldnt shop there, and walmart wouldnt be able to do anything about it.

One word: monopolies. You don’t have as much choice as you think you do.

And in a free capitalist market as we have a monopoly is easily toppled. Groups like walmart have been trying to make a monopoly for a very long time. However if walmart were to get a monopoly, and then began tk say increases prices and such, the beautiful thing is anyone could come along and start up a new store. Monopolies dont have absolute control due to the fact that anyone can start a new business to compete with them. This is how the market has always worked. This is also why most companies no longer attempt to get a monopoly, companies like microsoft and apple have intentionally kept one another around because it is simply better for business. In fact pretty much one of the only actual monopolies that currently exists is the Canadian banking system, where in no other bank other than the big 5 is permitted to open, though there are actual reasons for this (banking is a bit of an exception). Some industries are harder to get into, such as the cat industry, but as we have even seen as an excellent example recently, even that industry can be broken into if the current companies wont do what the consumers want (the creation of tesla).

Are you old enough to remember the 70s? To say Walmart doesn’t have a monopoly is a slap in the face to the tens of thousands of small businesses they destroyed. Your evaluation of American capitalism is a bit rosy.