Markets aren't just a feature of capitalism

The Wall Street Journal put out a video about how grocery stores are an awesome example of how great capitalism is, because there is competition between food items, and abundant choices for consumers. More Perfect Union put out a video responding to WSJ, talking about how there's hardly any real competition because almost all the food in the grocery stores is owned by a small handful of companies, and most grocery stores in the U.S. belong to one of four different chains. I didn't like the WSJ video, but the MPU video annoyed me too, because they didn't actually address the central claim of the WSJ video. There are a lot of items to choose from in the grocery store, and those items are in competition with eachother. I believe that's true, for the most part, regardless of the ownership structure. And I believe it's true because of markets, moreso than because of Capitalism. Capitalism is not a system of free markets, but a system of private ownership. Some capitalist activity operates…