American Exceptionalism has a lot to do with landmass. The average European country is around 100,000 square miles and the US is 3.8 million square miles. Most of the land wasn’t even spoken for due to the Native American Genocide.

Imagine any single European country receiving the equivalent of an entire uncontested continent of resources. When you look at it that way you see that the US is like a nepo baby who has never been told no.

Hey guys, let’s liquidate Social Security and invest it all in AI and reap Huuuugee profits!

When they do break a law it almost never results in someone else’s death.

Thanks! Glad I could help you through this difficult time.

Keep your existing car until it gets too expensive to repair. Find a similar car with low miles and then rinse and repeat. Do not waste your money on a new car.

They fucking know they aren’t supposed to marketing to kids, let alone disturbing them during school. These kids shouldn’t be on social media and these companies should not be collecting any of their data. Fuck these piece of shit companies for ignoring the law and bribing our government to look the other way.

There are more slaves today than at anytime in history. 50 million to be precise. If you want to add underemployed to this as well (often referred to as wage slaves) that would be closer to 550 million.

We are slaves to capitalism on a planet that is dying from pollution. We won’t stop or even recognize we have lost around a billion lives to pollution in the last 50 years.

Yes, I can say that based upon the available evidence. I have studied enough about monopolies that I feel completely comfortable with saying Steam is a monopoly. I totally get you are in denial. That is okay.

I find it strange you would bring prostitution into this as an example. But, if you knew I accepted money for sex like we know Steam has engaged in anti competitive practice while controlling the majority of the market then I guess it would be safe to call me one. Cheers!

Yeah, like that is a given. As I already stated, Steam is involved in price fixing. They have engaged in anti competitive behavior thus showing their monopoly power.

It is already conclusive they are a monopoly. If you can provide proof they are not then I will entertain you.

TIL: Turns out ReptilianCleric is the only actual human left on the Internet. Beep boop bop

From the FTC

"Courts look at the firm’s market share, but typically do not find monopoly power if the firm (or a group of firms acting in concert) has less than 50 percent of the sales of a particular product or service within a certain geographic area. Some courts have required much higher percentages. "

Obviously using a dictionary definition isn’t what is used in a legal sense. This is kind of silly to point out honestly.

Not only does Steam have the market share it is also engaging in price fixing to maintain their market share. This is classic monopoly behavior.

At this point it is not even a question if Steam is a monopoly. The question is will a judge or government do something about it.

Thanks for the chuckle! I appreciated that.

Gabe is a lying asshole.

Steam has 75% of the market share. Microsoft, which everyone points to as a monopoly, has around 65% of the market share for example. Steam meets the definition of a monopoly which is above 50% market share.

Not to mention being sued as a monopoly in several lawsuits and of course engaging in anti-competitive practices.

Just fine here, I can’t say the same for you though. Yes, you aren’t just confusing. You are straight up mental. That is okay though.

Look, you brought up steam keys AGAIN. What a strange strawman you have constructed. I have never mentioned steam keys, nor has any article I referenced. That hasn’t stopped you though.

If you think you have proved me wrong then I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. What is that? The bridge guy already sold you several bridges in Brooklyn. That makes a lot of sense.

Not sure what case your talking about, you did not link it or reference it. Honestly you are kind of spooky at this point, but not in a good way. So far your legal mind can be summarized by you not even understanding the one thing Steam has done that I have mentioned several times. I will hard pass on debating you.

To summarize Steam is a monopoly by definition. Thanks for coming full circle with me. It has been a wild ride because you keep jerking the wheel and sending us off road. What are a few bumps though when you eventually get to your destination. Cheers!

Why would you feel a cut is way too much!? Because it is their cut… Oh yeah that is called reading comprehension something that you apparently lack, maybe it is a ESL thing. If so don’t worry English is hard otherwise nice way to burn yourself I suppose. If that is the case I do appreciate self-deprivation humor.

If you read the article that referenced the lawsuit you would see this is not about steam keys. Why you would think this shows a clear lack of understanding of what we are talking about.

I have restated several times what the anti competitive practice Steam has engaged in. I won’t say it again because it is getting annoying at this point.

When I said intimately, I was referencing to your deep understanding of development hence the IDE reference. I guess you didn’t get it because you are not a developer/programmer yourself. Or maybe it is the ESL thing.

I would agree that plenty of people are satisfied or even happy with Steam. Of course there are a bunch of people who don’t like Steam as well. I don’t like Steam, but I have used it so I am sure Gabe can wipe away his tears with the money I have given him.

9.2 billion in 2021 before the war. About zero I would imagine now.

Give the money to the people that will spend it to stimulate the economy. Stop giving the money to people who don’t need it.

There are countless proven ways to do this. There are also some good ideas like UBI that would be worth a try. Tried and true ways like raising minimum wage, progressive taxes, providing training and education, subsidizing healthcare/schools/childcare, etc.

These are both good, but the clear winner is North and South Korea. I can’t find any appreciable trading between the two with NK almost exclusively trading with China.

This has got to be close to #1, what a disparity!

Edit: I looked it up the US and Cuba actually traded 200 million in 2026. Way more than I thought.