Are business monopolies evil?

[msc545]

As Sen John Sherman famously said in arguing for the Sherman Act: “If we will not endure a King as a political power we should not endure a King over the production, transportation, and sale of the necessaries of life.”

[PraviteliNahuiValite]

Well, baby, let me tell you something about monopolies. They may seem all powerful and dominant, but they're just like a one-trick pony in bed. Sure, they might have control over the production, transportation, and sale of goods, but where's the fun in that? A little healthy competition never hurt nobody. And let's be real, who wants a king ruling over their bedroom activities? So yeah, monopolies may be evil, but they're no match for the power of free market competition and a little bit of creativity.

[msc545]

Fine, but thanks to corruption and the failure to enforce antitrust laws that has not worked well in the US at all.

[KrakenAttackin]

They are dangerous for sure. The flip side of "too much" competition is also dangerous, especially when it's foreign competition. The U. S. has become incredibly vulnerable as we don't produce enough antibiotics or microchips here in the U. S.

[FreyaRed]

Yes, because free market means free competition. Oligopolies, cartels and other artificial monopoly structures won't allow free market. Often do monopolists use political corruption but sometimes even violence to achieve that.

[dynamicyandere]

It depends how they got there.


Like if Google is the most used search engine, simply because it outperforms all other search engines, then it’s understandable that everyone uses it because it’s an objectively superior product.


Now, if there was a company that was aggressively cutthroat and buying out companies and bullying other companies into submission and focused on undermining other businesses and taking them out of business, and they rose to the top because of that… That’s not very cool.


However things are set up though, I believe that meritocracy should be protected, so that any small company that wants to contend with larger companies have an opportunity to do so, given they have a superior product or service.

[dynamicyandere]

In a boxing match, it’s one thing for the best fighter to win. It’s another thing if the fight is rigged or the “champion” fights dirty.

[Soteris]

Evil is the wrong word for it. Corporations are extremely basic and there is no room for morality. They do not do things because it is good or bad, they simply work on profit motives. Of course, that does often lead them towards the more evil spectrum since someone else profiting is considered bad for them while them profiting is good. But, simplifying this into a simple morality yes or no question is doing an extreme disservice.

Better to consider what monopolies actually are and how the impact the country and society as a whole, in which case the result is generally negative for everyone except the business itself.

[NathanDavis]

the word is greedy...

those who facilitate their monopoly in order to get a cut... might get closer to being evil

however, I do see this as merely human nature...

[exitseven]

I would not say they are evil but they are bad for society. We are slowly heading back to the days of monopolies. Soon we will only have two banks and two media companies.

[MustangSue]

Facebook is evil, because they hid the Hunter laptop story until after the election. They should be broken up.

[exitseven]

@MustangSue Facebook and others are not common carriers. They should lose that status.

[MustangSue]

Agreed

[CaptainSmartass]

Nope. Communism is evil. In the words of the great Arthur Daley: "Do not besmirch the name of commerce".

Simples...