“Free market” capitalism does NOT care about raging forest fires, it does not care about endangering firefighters, it does not care about people dying due to lack of healthcare insurance. Unregulated capitalism cares only about making profits, apparently at any and all costs.
tl;dr it’s been confirmed as true. Also, this is why everyone needs at least macroeconomics education. In macroeconomics, the government and government intervention is a vital part of the economy, not an unwelcome intrusion.
You know what this is? Unless I’m mistaken, this is a classic case of market failure due to negative externalities – that is, the market failing to allocate resources within the economy for maximum benefit to everyone, due to the presence of costs to other people not directly involved in the production or consumption of the good, ie not the consumer or producer. The producer doesn’t give a flying fuck about other people, so long as they profit. So Verizon jacking up the prices and throttling speeds, impeding the fire department’s ability to put out a fire? Well, it doesn’t affect Verizon, so what do they care about other people? This same model is behind things like pollution (negative externalities due to production) and drink driving (negative externalities due to consumption).
To correct this, typically, the government is expected to intervene. Because, y’know, they’re supposed to look out for everyone. Taxes, regulations, etc. Only they stopped intervening, and this is what happens.
FantasyBoudicca 