John and Doug,
John wrote:
Just note that article I sent about the South Sea
Bubble. Shortly after they got their stamp of approval from the King,
they lobbied to cripple the competition by forbidding any stock to be traded
unless the corporation had a charter from the King.
That tactic – enlisting an established
power of force to limit competition – seems to be repeated throughout
history when any faction (corporate, NGO, political crusade, populist movement …)
becomes strong enough to enlist the contemporary form of force (government,
king, dictator, politician, …). By eliminating competition, the
ascendant group makes their position more secure.
If this one tactic could be nullified,
i.e. if ascendant groups could be prevented from complete dominance, then the
remaining individuals could opt out of any proposed plan to deny them their
equal justice.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to
nullify the ability of the top to compel the remainder into their plan? That
is what Friedman’s “Power to Choose” is actually about.
Forget the politics he espouses and just consider the opt-out tactic. If that
could be put into an amendment to the constitution, and enforced in nearly every
case, it would put a stop to lots of this hijacking of public interest and
public funds in the service of private interests.
-Rich
Sincerely,
Rich Cooper
EnglishLogicKernel.com
Rich AT EnglishLogicKernel DOT com
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From:
ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 8:07
PM
To: doug@xxxxxxxxxx;
[ontolog-forum]
Subject: Re: [ontolog-forum] Self Interest Ontology
Doug,
> John
emphasizes that lobbyists enhance the perceived self-interest of
> their corporations by writing (laws and) regulations to harm their
> competition.
Just note
that article I sent about the South Sea Bubble. Shortly after they got
their stamp of approval from the King, they lobbied to cripple the competition
by forbidding any stock to be traded unless the corporation had a charter from
the King.
Corporations
have been doing that even before Adam Smith was born. Those are the kinds
of shenanigans that destroy the efficacy of the "invisible
hand". When the South Sea Bubble burst, the difficulty of forming
new businesses prolonged the disastrous effects.
Big
business is the natural enemy of small business. Government has a
tendency to take the side of big business because they give bigger
"campaign contributions". But when you weaken the elected
government, there are no barriers of any kind to stop big businesses from
becoming the worst imaginable kind of de facto government.
Have you
ever heard of the company towns run by mining corporations in the 19th
century? Just listen to the song "16 Tons". That is
called laissez faire. That is why the Republicans passed the anti-trust
laws.
John