Most on the left would consider it authoritarian despotism if Trump started "Confiscating" companies. Most on the right would consider it the same if Biden or whomever did the same.
In general, the US has strong opposition to the state unilaterally confiscating companies, and it is the kind of thing seen in Nazi Germany, revolutionary Cuba and Iran, or the Islamic state.
The last time the US government tried this was steel mills under Truman in 1952, and that was with compensation and struck down by the SCOTUS.
Eh. I disagree. It really depends on the company, the why, and what's done with it afterwards.
If the other party nationalized the big frontier labs or AI data center operators, with the rationale that AI is just too disruptive to privatize the gains and/or the companies are acting recklessly, I wouldn't consider it "authoritarian despotism," and I don't think many others would either: those companies are unpopular across the political spectrum.
nobody said that was the reason they were bad. that's a dumb interpretation.
The point is that seizing companies simply because you have the army and popular support to do so indicates that the government has abandoned respect for law, rights, process, and reason.
It is precisely the authoritarian behavior that defines an authoritarian regime - Taking companies or people with flimsy pretext because they can get away with it. Citizens who cheer and hope for such things are cheering for populist law of the jungle.
If someone is genuinely concerned about safety or disruption, there are 101 legal and boring options the government can take. Those just dont stimulate the the same petty emotions.
It's not that simple. For instance: a prison sentence is "authoritarian despotism" from the perspective of a murderer subject to it (or his apologists).