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RE: IP: Killer App?
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 17:44:18 +1000
From: Russell Nelson <nelson () crynwr com> Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 23:44:35 -0400 (EDT) Thom Hartmann writes: > Apropos of this discussion, I thought you may enjoy the attached. I'm disgusted by it. Just like Jock's arguments are based on incorrect facts, so too are FDR's. > It was natural and perhaps human that the privileged princes > of these new economic dynasties, thirsting for power, reached out > for control over government itself. Oh? The railroad magnates wanted to be protected from that horrible competition which so often destroyed their profits. They asked for regulation and so was born the ICC. And indeed, I have a map of the railroads of New York State, extant and defunct as of 1958. This map shows that nearly every trunk railroad had two competing railroads. You can drive along the New York State Thruway west of Syracuse and see the old roadbed paralleling the existing one. > Against economic tyranny such as this, the American citizen could appeal > only to the organized power of government. The collapse of 1929 showed up > the despotism for what it was. The collapse of 1929 was caused by the Federal Reserve restricting the monetary supply. This was exactly the wrong thing to do. Under FDR's reign they managed the economy so poorly that they succeeded in creating a recession in the middle of a depression. > Throughout the nation, opportunity was limited by monopoly. FDR wrote this in 1936. The Communications Act of 1934 (http://showcase.netins.net/web/akline/1934act.htm) created a monopoly for AT&T. FDR signed the bill himself. Explain to me again how "opportunity was limited by monopoly". Note the use of the passive voice. Whenever you hear the passive voice, be alert to the possibility that someone is trying to confuse you about how did what. FDR himself limited opportunity by turning AT&T's market dominance into a government-granted monopoly. Quoting from _America Calling_ by Claude S. Fischer, page 50: For one year during World War I the federal government took over the telephone and telegraph industries. This worked to the benefit of the industry because the government instituted price increases that the companies had been unable to gain on their own. This, in turn, both raised baseline rates and helped discredit nationalization. ... After the war a Senate committee determined that telephony was a "natural monopoly," and a House committee declared that telephone competition "was an endless annoyance." In 1921, [Congress] waived antitrust limitations on purchases of telephone companies. In the next thirteen years Bell was the buyer in 223 of 234 such purchases. By 1930, 80 percent of telephones in the United States were Bell telephones, and 98 percent of the remainder connected to Bell lines. Now, why was Bell able to out-compete their competition? Because they convinced legislators that customers couldn't be trusted to seek their own quality level. A law was then conveniently passed that mandated a certain quality level throughout the telephone system -- a quality that only Bell had the technology to provide. Also from America Calling, but I do not have the page number to cite. I'm sorry, Thom and Jock, but market power is not like political power. I have chosen to give Verizon power over my life through my purchase of a cellphone contract. This contract is of limited duration, and I can choose to break the contract at an affordable price. I can then choose a different cellular provider or indeed, none at all. Tell me: how can I choose not to be a New York State subject, or a United States subject, without the considerable cost of moving? Nobody is forcing me to buy anything. Somebody is forcing me to obey the government. -- -russ nelson <sig () russnelson com> http://russnelson.com Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | Looking for help 521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | tuning Apache for Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX | high performance.
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