LIVE: Lina Khan and Jack Cocchiarella Make MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT
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Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖More Perfect University is launching to train students in reporting and organizing against corporate power.
- ❖Lina Khan's career, from journalism to the FTC, is driven by holding power accountable and exposing economic abuse.
- ❖The FTC's strategy involves identifying public 'pain points,' building strong legal cases, and creating 'countervailing power' through public engagement.
- ❖Corruption levels are 'grotesque and blatant,' fundamentally hostile to democracy, requiring focus on money in politics and economic power concentrations.
- ❖Mayor Mammdani's administration prioritizes direct civic engagement, exemplified by the Office of Mass Engagement and rental ripoff hearings.
- ❖The 'inshitification' of services (e.g., WhatsApp privacy, Ticketmaster fees) is a direct result of unchecked corporate consolidation.
- ❖The Center for Law and the Economy at Columbia Law School aims to train a deep bench of public servants to serve working people.
- ❖Highlighting successful fights against corporate power is crucial to overcome public resignation and inspire action.
Insights
1Journalism as a Foundation for Fighting Corporate Power
Lina Khan's early aspiration to be a journalist, driven by the desire to hold power accountable, directly informed her later career investigating market structures and corporate abuse. Her work in poultry farming, observing how a few companies controlled the livelihoods of thousands of farmers, provided a 'clear picture of how concentrated economic power is ripe for abuse.'
Khan initially wanted to be a journalist to 'hold power to account.' After college, she researched market structures, finding in poultry farming that a 'small number of companies' controlled 'thousands of farmers,' leading to 'huge amounts of power over them.'
2FTC's Strategy for Tackling Corporate Abuse
The FTC, despite limited resources, strategically prioritized fights against the 'biggest pain points in people's lives' by actively listening to working-class Americans. Their approach involved building the strongest possible legal cases, telling compelling stories to judges, and crucially, engaging the public to create 'countervailing power' against the 'full influence machine' of corporate lobbying.
Khan states the FTC focused on 'biggest pain points in people's lives,' hearing from people about healthcare costs, social media abuse, and non-compete clauses. They ensured 'best case legally' and 'compelling story' for judges, and engaged the public to counter 'enormous push back from those corporate interests.'
3Corruption's Threat to Democracy
The current levels of corruption are described as 'grotesque and blatant,' posing a fundamental threat to democracy. This corruption, both overt and 'more subtle forms' that become normalized in places like D.C., fosters public disillusionment and a perception that leaders serve the powerful rather than working people. Addressing money in politics and extreme concentrations of economic power is vital for democratic stability.
Khan notes 'grotesque and blatant' corruption levels, stating it's 'fundamentally hostile to and incompatible with our democracy.' She mentions 'more subtle forms of corruption' that 'become normalized' and feed 'Americans' disillusionment with government.'
4Local Government as a Model for Civic Engagement
Mayor Mammdani's administration demonstrates how local government can foster direct and continuous civic participation beyond elections. By creating an 'Office of Mass Engagement' and holding public 'rental ripoff hearings' in every borough, the administration directly consults New Yorkers on their pain points, making government more responsive and accountable to its citizens.
The mayor created a 'new office of mass engagement' and held 'rental ripoff hearings' in 'every burrow' where New Yorkers could 'talk directly to top officials' about housing issues, demonstrating a commitment to ongoing civic participation.
5The 'Inshitification' of Services Due to Monopoly Power
Monopoly power leads to the 'inshitification' of services, where quality degrades because companies are 'too big to care.' Examples include WhatsApp's privacy policy changing after Facebook's acquisition, the illusion of choice in grocery aisles where a few companies control many brands, and Ticketmaster's website issues and hidden 'junk fees' due to a lack of alternatives.
Khan cites WhatsApp's privacy degradation post-Facebook acquisition, grocery store aisles with 'dozens of brands' controlled by 'two or three companies' leading to 'quality degrade,' and Ticketmaster's 'website breaks down' and 'junk fees' as examples of 'inshitification.'
Bottom Line
Swifties, radicalized by Ticketmaster's monopolistic practices, became an unexpected force in the antitrust discussion.
This demonstrates that even seemingly apolitical fan bases can be mobilized against corporate power when their direct consumer experience is negatively impacted by monopolies, creating a potent, unexpected advocacy group.
Advocates can identify and leverage specific consumer pain points caused by monopolies to engage diverse, non-traditional groups in broader antitrust and economic justice movements.
Key Concepts
Countervailing Power
The concept that organized public engagement and advocacy can create a force strong enough to balance and resist the influence of concentrated corporate and financial interests in policy-making and legal battles.
Inshitification
A term describing the gradual degradation of quality, privacy, or service in products and platforms after they achieve market dominance, often through mergers or acquisitions, because they face no meaningful competition and are 'too big to care.'
Lessons
- Join 'More Perfect University' to gain skills in investigative reporting and community organizing to combat corporate power.
- Participate in local public comment periods for utility rate hikes or development projects (e.g., data centers) to ensure public interest is represented.
- Research your city and state laws to identify neglected government tools and authorities that could be used to protect the public interest on issues you care about.
How to Fight Corporate Power and Corruption (Lessons from FTC & Local Government)
Identify the 'biggest pain points' in people's lives by actively listening to community members and their direct experiences with economic injustice.
Build the strongest possible legal or policy case by gathering facts and understanding existing authorities, even neglected ones in local codes.
Craft a compelling narrative that explains who the fight is defending and why it matters, making it digestible for judges and the public.
Engage the public to create 'countervailing power' against corporate lobbying and influence, ensuring policymakers hear diverse perspectives.
Focus on and celebrate 'wins,' no matter how small, to combat public resignation and demonstrate that change is possible.
Quotes
"Concentrated economic power, concentrated corporate power is ripe for abuse."
"The levels of corruption that we're seeing are just grotesque and blatant to an extent that, you know, I think you'd have to go back quite some decades for for that level of just extreme grotesque corruption."
"Oftentimes, there are a whole set of decisions that are being made at the local level that create opportunities for input and participation."
"We are really at a tipping point in terms of just the level of freefall that we're in as a country in terms of attacks on the rule of law."
Q&A
Recent Questions
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