The Unseen Form Of A Monopoly

Prelude:

Today I was brainstorming about capitalism. At first I was just thinking about what was wrong with the system. After finding that there wasn't anything wrong with it, I began to wonder whats the problem at all? I could see a definate problem, from there it was a matter of identifying it. I assumed that it was profits and greedy working in favor of the system. An assumption definately. I figured that the system wasn't really at fault, but it did endourse greed, so that was its problem.

A member (who will remain anonymous) posted an article to counter why I thought capitalism was a bad system. This article he posted was I guess suppose to change my views to make me believe that capitalism isn't bad and everything bad about it was just made up. here is the article:

www.hoover.org...

After reading that I saw it was a decent article and it made some points. I was at square one again. What was the problem with the system. If there isn't any, then why does it seem like business is killing our government and democracy? I thought about it for a decent amount of time and came to this-

The Unseen Form Of A Monopoly

First we should talk about why capitalism is a decent system. It is privately owned by the citizens. The businesses compete with eachother, ultimately benefitting the customer. This is unlike communism where the government runs it, and Fascism where the government and the business are one, they work together to make profit and live like kings. Both of those systems fail miserably when in the real world because of exploitations. But is capitalism any different?

Capitalism, though works on paper, has exploitations which have been highly used and abused. These exploitations has formed a new type of monopoly which controls the government beyond what fascism is. Its like fascism minus the government going hand in hand. The government is pretty much powerless to the business. Fascism they are on the same level, but in this system its like the business actually owns the government.

How did this happen though? Well the article posted by the other member, states that between 1870 and 1970 the cost of living was dropping a great deal, and the poor class was having a better way of life. This is true. The poor were getting better quality life, the rich were getting more rich. And at the same time consumerism got big and businesses grew to unimagenable sizes. So all in all what its saying is. Businesses got huge, rich people got richers, and the poor got better lifestyles, and were having a better standard of living. Maybe its just me but does the phrase "too good to be true" ring a bell with anyone else?

Well, it is. Between now and the 1970's the rich have still been getting richer while the lower class is starting to not get any better. So in a sense the rich get richer while the poor, well they dont change at all. Now that still doesnt sound too big by itself either. The poor still have a better lifestyle then anywhere on the planet. Sure the rich are becoming even more rich, but thats suppose to happen. Personally if this was the end of my story, I don't think I would have a reason to be posting now. Unfortunately this is far from the end of the story. This is just pieces to the puzzle right now. Want to put it all together?

During the 1870's to 1970's everything was great...or was it? In reality, there was something else going on. When these big businesses came into play, they grew into businesses much bigger then the mom and pop shops trying to compete with them. This was the first step toward the unseen monopoly. As the businesses grew bigger they evidently had more advantages then the small businesses, the major one being distribution. These big businesses could expand far beyond all other businesses boundries.

So now we have a business expanding across the country, competing with mom and pop shops around the country. Heres where the big business comes into play. Because the business is so big it uses its second advantage of buying in bulk. By doing this they can lower there prices because product costs less. So now the mom and pop shops are in a much more difficult position. Mainly because now they have to compete with prices that they cant compete with financially. Slowly mom and pop shops are disappearing going out of business. You can only hold out so long before you have to give in. This was a seen problem, but it wasn't THEE problem.

The real problem no one saw was what this low cost of living was doing. By having this low cost of living, wages could be dropped. Pay didn't have to be as high because the cost of living was so low. Thats the key element in this monopoly. They lowered the cost of living, while eliminating competitive business. Once the competitive business was pretty much crushed, the monopoly was set. Now though, mom and pop shops could get started. Not only because they cant compete with low prices, but people dont have the money to spend on them anymore. The choice is gone.

By lowering the pay, they became limited to the big businesses providing the low cost of living. Now the pieces are set. 1970's roll around and then the positions change a bit. Since the monopoly is set. They don't have to raise prices to raise profit. Strangely because of the dependence on the business the community has now, the business can get involved in politics. If the business decides not to do business with the community because it wont agree with the business, the community has no chance now. The wages are lower, because the cost of living is lower. Now those mom and pop shops cant open up because no one has the wages to spend on the raised prices. The Business is exercising its monopoly.

This is where the businesses get involved in politics. It can decide what does or doesnt go into play because of the power it has economically. Its dictating the government, so now the government isn't working for the people anymore. The business pay the government people to shut up, in return they live like kings. Now the business is home free. Its not that corruption is a choice for the government anymore. You can take the money and represent them, or you can leave the money and represent them. Either way, your working for them now.

This is starting on a global scale now.

Conclusion:

In the end, we were tricked. The low cost of living was in fact too good to be true. This clever trick was made in the idea we would see all the benefits and not see the true intent, a monopoly. This monopoly has been in the works for over a century. Its been succeeding the entire time. Until after the 1970's it wasn't at all obvious. It was the most deceitful plan of all time. The monopoly was hidden with the greatest promises and the best quality of life. What was the price though? It was our government, our power, and eventually our freedoms to choose whats what. We have handed them our country.

Fascism doesn't describe this, because the government doesn't even have any power anymore. We aren't losing our freedoms, we gave them away accidentally. We thought this was the land of perfection. What we though was freedom was just a disguise, consumerism was at its roots. In truth, we thought we were embrassing a nation on the rise, but we were embrassing a dictatorship. The dictatorship is composed of super businesses. The system was never the problem, it was the unseen monopoly that was.

We thought this was freedom, but was in reality this was a very high end dictatorship. I think further more that it may be too late in the game to change it. We are already hooked on the business, and it would be almost impossible to survive without it now. So what should be done. The monopoly is in full effect, and our freedoms are in there hands. What do we do?

Very nice analysis a while back I did a thread on corporations but it was view with a mix of opinions.

While capitalism is for the good of the people, that is not so in modern day America.

You explain very well the good of what a capitalistic economy can do for the people’s well being.

But the down fall of it is the way in which Capitalism can become a controlling monopoly and that is what is happening in American right now.

Other countries like China is starting to see the benefits of open markets and capitalism even when they are communist the wealth is controlled by few.

Just like monopolies in America.

Good example will be no far away from everybody’s mind, Wal-Mart ring a bell? That is a good example of big corporation swallowing small towns US.

I also did a thread on who is lobbying for the middle class, that is when the big interest gets involve and manipulates government.

Name the prices and you get your wishes come true.

But now big interest are the government and that is dangerous no only for the nation but for what capitalism stand for when it comes to the people of the nation.

Well yes walmart did come to mind when talking about these big businesses. Its one of the best examples of running mom and pop shops out of business.

I still stand by the reason we didnt see it coming was how much we benefitted from what led up to the monopoly. We thought we were heading toward a paradise where nobody, not even the poor, lived in bad conditions. What we actually headed toward was a monopoly of super businesses interferring with the workings of the government.

I think that affordability is actually hurting us in the long run. Its allowing them to truely take advantage and monopolize further.

There is a solution to this (may be to late to implicate), but first I want to hear opinions of what Ive written so far.

1 reply and this topic is still at the top of the page. I must have posted this in a pretty dead subforum. Did I post this in the wrong spot?

Erosion of values is, people try to survive at any cost (well, most of us do and the rest doesn't count unless they're very clever).


Got that? money is fiction so are rules and laws, it's all in your head IF enough people realize, they will soon find out that:

They didn't create and don't fully understand the production system (aka. *The Industry*), which is why many feel weak

The Owners of the system don't either...


Now put two and two together, wealth alone is never going to secure anything. If you want to survive the times ahead, you need the correct combination of skills, oh and being able to kill at a moment's notice certainly won't hurt either.

Well yea, if we can get the system to fail and lose its monopoly. Then times ahead you are going to need a skill and such because that will be the new means of survival. Personally I think if there were any civil war more would die of starvation then murder. Maybe disease too because conditions dont get better in a civil war and even though medicine may produce many longterm side effects we wont have that anymore either.

All depends on what your willing to give up. Freedom or this way of life. Life seemed a bit too easy, thats because they have formed a dictatorship under our noses.

grimreaper, good topic I voted you for way above top secret.

Yes it is likely that our government has been taken over by corporations, so yes we live in a fascist state. However, what can we do about it? To vote in new politicians wouldn't solve much unless they were willing to dismantle every part of the government and start over. What are the chances of that happening? Honest politicians don't make it far in the political world...sad enough as that is. You gotta be able to lie, cheat, and steal to further your career if you want to be a politician in this country. Looks like we have only one other reaction...Viva la revolution!

The Government isnt the problem. Business is. No amount of voting will change that. No government overthrow would change that. Our supplies are controlled by business.

Great post. I may not agree 100% with your final analysis, but it's certainly thougth provoking and I'm glad you posted it. I'm intrigued by the idea of pulling the wool over our eyes by distracting us with low prices and low cost of living, while at the same time keeping the wages low and running the mom and pops out of business. I think Capitalism works, and can still work in the US today, but there needs to be better safeguards against the amount of economic power a single company can weild. The anti-trust laws are severely lacking when you look at companies like Wal-Mart and Microsoft and their business practices. A US gov't will have to come along that has the guts to stand up for the ideals of this country and not be bought off by Big Business. Unfortunately, Big Business has done a good job equating themselves with "American" when they are in fact the most un-American thing around right now.

It takes a decent amount of time to trick a population into think that this system is the american way, that explain the 100 years they took to put it in the works? 100 years of business low prices, and a great new easy way of life. Promises filled with good intent, but behind the scenes a monopoly in the works.

Originally posted by grimreaper797

All depends on what your willing to give up. Freedom or this way of life. Life seemed a bit too easy, thats because they have formed a dictatorship under our noses.

It all depends on how long you plan to live, because the dictatorship is lead by loons, who don't seem to understand that the distractions and diversions they created (fiat money, the entertainment industry and so on) are just fantasy at their core and destroying entire societies and/or ecosystems for nothing is pretty much the definition of insanity.

f-ex: venting a refridgerator's 'exhaust' into heated space like regularly we do now - costly lunacy.

Grim, I think there is another factor to concider that goes hand in hand with big business, and thats the investing part of the picture. So many people have a vested intrest in the businesses that they are counting on there investment for retirement and such. So on the one hand people may hate the fact that Wal Mart is killing the mom and pop stores they know that their money is growing as this happens. I guess they dont realize that in the long run this is just robbing Peter to pay Paul and the business will win in the end, well the top shareholders will. When every one has a piece of the pie the pie is not that valuable, but the owner of the pie pan is set. I also think we need to kick our elected officials in the butt and make them start working for us and the only way I see this happening is for elections to be payed for by our tax money. anyway just my 2 cents.

Nice work.

First, I want to say that I'm a big fan of FREE ENTERPRISE. The whole competition thing.

I'm not nearly as big on capitalism, where it takes ownership to actually get anywhere.


I believe that there are definite "excesses of capitalism." Such as
4 gas stations at an intersection
40 flavors of toothpaste in one grocery store.
bottled water
billboards
advertizing budgets larger than R&D.

The thing I love about auctions in the security market is that they rip on the stupid rich. A poor man can quickly become rich; a trust-fund baby will lose his cash in a heartbeat, if he thinks his inherited wealth means that he's automatically better than the competition.



[edit on 15-6-2006 by dr_strangecraft]

You guys talk about the government being the way to change. The government cant overpower the businesses. The businesses are the ones with all the leverage. Its already a private business, so its not like the government can restrict them much more then they already have. The businesses can stop producing product for them, they control the stock market, and they control our military needs. They control a heck of alot more. A politican starts cracking down on businesses and the only thing the news is gunna show you is how bad of a guy he is. And americans tend to take that stuff from the news like it was hard fact and go basing there vote on it.

The whole system is in the businesses hands. Its beyond fascism.

Grim, I dont know if I agree with that, otherwise why would the businesses need to loby the goverment so much, there is a lot of money in goverment contracts and such. If the government worked for the people instead of for the businesses I think a lot could be done to control their actions more for the benifit of everyone. As it stands now they are hand in hand, not looking out for the little guy. If a polititian knew he would be held accountable for his/her actions by the majority of the people they represent and not a few businesses then things could get better. As they say "follow the money", and right now the money leads to big businesses pockets and not the american people. We are giving our tax dollars but expecting little for it. The election process needs to be back in the hands of the everyday people. Marx in his own way saw this coming.

your not seeing the problem. Government isnt hand in hand with business. Government gets paid to just shut up so that people are less prone to hear about it. They control your food and electricity, if they want to they can simply cut that off. They can just say fine we will take our business to china.

The businesses are not being held in check because we are relying on the government to deal with it. We need to deal with it.

I believe that big business does have a way to control the goverment and not just them but the insurance companies too.
My wife works for wal-mart and the insurance company they have is also a dictator they tell the doctors what they will pay them.
She had foot surgery and the doctor told her she should be off her foot for 8 weeks and the insurance company told her they only allow her three weeks off.
Big money does control the country and the people (GOTTA HAND IT TO WAL-MART THERE IN CONTROL) think about what they get 120.00 per month times about 3 or 4 million empolyees and they dont want to pay you for being off for 8 weeks thanks for letting me spend my 2 cents .

Ok so how do we get rid of big business? There's too much money already in their pockets to starve them, it would only hurt us unless we had structures in place to feed everyone. If we cut them off now the small open air markets would have to open up and communities would be alive again no longer hindered by corruption and greed. Organic foods will be the thing to get, and everyone will be growing their own plants for sustenance. But before that happens we need possibly a revolution of ideas?

Originally posted by biggie smalls

Ok so how do we get rid of big business?

Well, you break up the assembly-line mass production system.

Set up conditions where its unprofitable; where cars are built in "mom & pop" garages on a one-per-order basis. With no interchangeable parts!

Any time a company that once was "mom & pop" size starts making a profit, you break up their "incipient monopoly."

Say, if someone make a nice new sort of a loaf of bread, and people start preferring the new kind, to the extent that the "new bread" bakeries start popping up . . . then you drive them out of business, and insist that everyone can only purchase the old, crappy bread they were originally used to.

Just think of all the happy citizens you'd have, in a society like that . . .

.

If you read the end part of my conclusion you would see they have made it impossible for mom and pop shops to come into play now. Are wages are too low to support mom and pop shops, we would probably go completely broke before we could live off of mom and pop shops.

Truthfully this is the situation we are in and although I can see it clear as day, I have no clue as to how to stop this particular situation. It seems as though we cant cut off these businesses because our very existance depends on them now.

We let it happen because we thought higher quality life for everyone could come at a cheap price...we were wrong.


edit: containing big business is easy and I have a good idea of how to stop the problem we have encountered BUT, its already in the higher stages past containment, they have control pretty much completely, so I have no clue what to do about it.

[edit on 15-6-2006 by grimreaper797]