From a moral perspective, I can't fathom why so many people believe that forcing the communications providers to surrender their property to government control is the right thing to do. It seems that we've simply gotten so used to having completely open access, that we are entitled to it. But by what moral law do we gain control over another's property?
-CWuestefeld
Devil's advocate:
Then just how can anyone justify *the state* selling off the rights to communications? What is everyone else supposed to do? Stay silent? Where do the corporations get the right to use certain frequencies? Who administers the bands?
If it is the state, then just how does the state justify allowing certain people to communicate and forcing others to be subject to their whims?
That's dangerous.
From a practical perspective, I am equally worried. It seems to me that many people are exhibiting a knee-jerk response to large corporations, jumping on the "quest for profits is evil" bandwagon.
-CWuestefeld
Nothing against profit here.
In over two centuries of American history, I can only think of a single major government initiative that has been significantly beneficial in the big picture (that is, the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System). Most all turn into monsters, suffering regulatory capture so that the government turns into the servants of those they intended to regulate (e.g., the petroleum industry). I think you'll be hard pressed to name any significant government initiative that is as good as "not terrible".
-CWuestefeld
I can think of a few instances, though not in American history. The Korean push for technology and industry initiated by dictator Park Junghee has worked wonders for the country. His freeway initiative was revolutionary there at the time. Don't get me wrong -- the guy was pretty f***ing evil a lot of the time, but he always had the best interests of the country at heart, and a lot of his policies worked out. Funny enough, when you look at dictatorships or authoritarian regimes, this same pattern plays out where infrastructure gets built and the nation gets pushed forward. There is the obvious cost for that though...
I suppose I'd rather be at the whims of the state than at the whims of a corporation. Corporations psychotically pursue profit (it's the psychotic part that is evil, not the profit part), while governments psychotically pursue the best interests of the government/state/nation.
Recent Posts
