“When Money Becomes Power” by Gabriel Alfour

I know many people in the libertarian right quadrant of the political compass: progress studies people, economists, techno-optimists, anarcho-capitalists, proper libertarians, etc.

They usually ignore why people may oppose rich people getting richer on principle.

This essay is an explanation for them, focusing on how wealth concentration is an especially pernicious form of concentration of power.

The Starting Point: Free and Equal

It is bad for a stranger to have power over us.

Foremost, it is morally bad. People should be free and equal. Someone having power over us makes us less free, and less equal.

It's also personally bad. It makes our life worse, by having others decide things for us, by being anxious about how others decide to use their power over us, by making our choices less meaningful knowing they can be overruled, etc.

Finally, it is often instrumentally bad. When someone has power over someone [...]

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Outline:

(00:35) The Starting Point: Free and Equal

(02:39) Power Gap and Coercion

(04:28) Bounds on Power

(07:54) Power Concentration

(09:52) Capitalism and Separation of Powers

(13:50) Conclusion

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First published:

August 22nd, 2025

Source:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/mbmf2o7pFvdWsEPpP/when-money-becomes-power

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.