ndanger.organism

Writing about monopolies reminded me of a This American Life episode. The last story talks about cracking organized crime’s hold on garbage pick-up in NYC. Once the mob was gone, prices dropped… temporarily. They rose as soon as big corporations took over.

I’m not anti-capitalist–I only switched my voter registration from Libertarian a few weeks ago, and that was just so I could vote in the PA primaries–so I’m not bothered by businesses getting large and successful. But I am bothered by anti-competitive practices. Maybe the general high cost of New York City is keeping a hot-young garbage start-up from disturbing the market, but maybe it’s restrictive laws or business collusion.

When it comes to biking, I think cars have a responsibility to watch out for cyclists. This is part of a general belief that power = responsibility. When the powerful don’t exhibit that responsibility I have no problem with regulations enforcing it for them.

At risk of sounding about 20 years older than I actually am, that’s what’s wrong with America these days. The banking bailout is an example where apparently responsibility != risk. And what’s the rational for CEO golden parachutes? The excuse for ballooning executive pay is that executives get great rewards for their great risks. Getting millions to quit your job doesn’t seem very risky to me. (and yes, I understand that successful CEO’s have a rare skill, which is why I don’t mind when they get paid. It’s the high paid failures that bother me)

But I wonder if the problem doesn’t start even higher. We’re in of a costly war based on false pretenses; some of that cost due to no-bid Halliburton contracts. Torture is considered acceptable and civil rights have been eroded. A depression is likely. The national debt is huge. Other than Scooter, who has paid?

Large corporations seem to have the green-light for corruption and the government won’t intervene, let alone admit its own mistakes.

I can’t wait for the election.