Unregulated capitalism does not exist anywhere on this planet, and the US is in fact quite a bureaucratic country, though less so than many others.

"putting power solely in the hands of the wealthiest."

Do you think it is? Then let some of the wealthiest try to obtain a permit in downtown SF for a mere block of flats, the likes of which used to be built by the thousands 100 years ago. If it takes less than a decade, I would be surprised.

There is a lot of power outside the private sector. Every environmental or political group that sues any project does, in fact, wield a lot of power of the "veto" variety, which used to be prerogative of kings.

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someonebaggy 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The wealthiest are having no problem acquiring permits for data centers. Why would they want flats when DCs are so much more profitable? Last century it was highways.

	▲	inglor_cz 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		No problem? Didn't New York (the state) actually stop issuance of permits for data centers for a year or so? Sure that you can get a permit somewhere, that is just federalism. But you may not get it where you want it, and given that data centers are now a part of the general culture war, I expect that many blue states will now attempt to regulate them out of existence, at least in urban and semi-urban areas.

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sevenzero 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Regulators being paid off arent actually regulating things you know? Regulation as it is, is extremely flawed and prone to corruption.

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inglor_cz 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Bad governance is a very hard problem to solve. We have been living in organized states for over 4000 years and various combinations of corruption and nepotism seem to be common problems regardless of the political and economic system.

The very fact that the question "Quod custodiet ipsos custodes?" (who will guard the guards themselves?) was originally formulated in Latin is an indication of how long has this been going on.

	▲	esme388 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Isn't it "quis"? It would be nice to get a classical education of course but I don't actually know the difference

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ericmay 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Sure but this wouldn't be an argument against capitalism, it's an argument for reform of government. If you think that regulation is extremely flawed and prone to corruption, then governmental systems including socialism and communism would be even more flawed since they are by definition more highly regulated.