I don’t really get what you are trying to say. Do I read it as “There is nothing special about it” or as “This is a severe problem”?

And it even was the very same city that exactly 10 years ago was hit with a very violent hailstorm that caused billions in damage.

Who is this “capitalism” you are talking about? If with that you mean the general battlefield of the market, then you have a point. Of course there are people who want to keep the scales tipped in favour of the already established products. And of course the companies that produce them have connections to wealthy and powerful people. And of course that makes it harder for new product types to challenge the market. I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. Just one thing there: The choice is not an illusion. But you need to create part of the opportunity yourself. We are talking about a market here. And for participation on the market, you need the means to participate. I would guess that this is where you are coming from. Still, keeping people poor is not what is taking away the choice. It is a pretty complicated topic though, so I will stop here. Have my upvote in the meantime.