this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026
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Microblog Memes

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A place to share screenshots of Microblog posts, whether from Mastodon, tumblr, ~~Twitter~~ X, KBin, Threads or elsewhere.

Created as an evolution of White People Twitter and other tweet-capture subreddits.

RULES:

  1. Your post must be a screen capture of a microblog-type post that includes the UI of the site it came from, preferably also including the avatar and username of the original poster. Including relevant comments made to the original post is encouraged.
  2. Your post, included comments, or your title/comment should include some kind of commentary or remark on the subject of the screen capture. Your title must include at least one word relevant to your post.
  3. You are encouraged to provide a link back to the source of your screen capture in the body of your post.
  4. Current politics and news are allowed, but discouraged. There MUST be some kind of human commentary/reaction included (either by the original poster or you). Just news articles or headlines will be deleted.
  5. Doctored posts/images and AI are allowed, but discouraged. You MUST indicate this in your post (even if you didn't originally know). If an image is found to be fabricated or edited in any way and it is not properly labeled, it will be deleted.
  6. Absolutely no NSFL content.
  7. Be nice. Don't take anything personally. Take political debates to the appropriate communities. Take personal disagreements & arguments to private messages.
  8. No advertising, brand promotion, or guerrilla marketing.

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[–] manxu@piefed.social 64 points 18 hours ago (6 children)

When I went to Econ class, the professor explained that we call it "Free Market Economics" because of four freedoms:

  1. Freedom of entry and exit - participants (buyers, sellers, and prospective such) can enter or exit the market at their leisure, and the market will not change
  2. Freedom of participation - every participant is in the market of their free will and can leave the market without repercussion
  3. Freedom of substitution - every product on a particular market is essentially the same
  4. Freedom of information - every participant has the same information about availability and prices at the same time

The reward is that free markets are efficient: they lead to the lowest prices and greatest exchange of goods. That is the reason we have them.

When the four freedoms are not mandated, the market fails in different ways, and that's absolutely expected. When information is available to some before it is to others, we get price distortions - that's where insider trading laws come from.

Health care, the prof explained, suffers from the fact there is no freedom of participation. You either buy care or you suffer the potentially deadly consequences. That's why free markets and health care are fundamentally incompatible: they are expected to be.

[–] Spitefire@lemmy.world 19 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Healthcare is the literal example of inelastic demand my prof used to teach us the concept. If you die without it, then there is no price where a reasonable actor can choose to stop participating in the market.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

Well, it's a little elastic.

Non-fatal health conditions that lots of people put up with. Someone I knew went to ER for first kidney stone, then just endured the pain the second time until they could get a non-emergency appointment, since it's non-fatal but agonizing, and a non-emergency visit is like 80% cheaper.

Lots of people just accept chronic problems, for example joint pain without seeking medical examination.

Of course, in many cases, hard to make an informed decision on whether it is or is not one of those life or death scenarios in many cases.

[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 19 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (2 children)

I feel like #3 no longer exists for anything in the US economy. You get one product in each niche either owned by 3 companies whose executives all have lunch together (egg farms, meat, ram manufacturers, etc) or where its just absolutely so black boxed its unclear what the product actually is (windows, google, ai etc)

[–] Folstar@lemmus.org 1 points 5 minutes ago

#4 is on the way out too. USA! USA! USA!

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 17 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

That's why monopolies are supposed to be illegal.

[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 8 points 17 hours ago

Its also why pricefixing is illegal.

[–] NewSocialWhoDis@lemmy.zip 6 points 14 hours ago

There's no freedom of information either. Good luck getting your healthcare provider (your doctor, the hospital) to tell you how much any given procedure will cost in advance.

[–] jdr@lemmy.ml 2 points 16 hours ago

Are free markets efficient? I think that's an open question.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 2 points 16 hours ago

I believe it's called inelastic demand: things you don't stop buying even when prices go up.

See also: housing, food (though you may eat less or eat other foods, but you still need food).

[–] Cheebus@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

#4 Doesn’t seem to be a thing anymore, president seems to get away with all the insider trading he wants PLTR tweets and what not