Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

331–340 of 353 posts

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#331

Post by mozumder »

jessaustin wrote: post #328
mozumder wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So let's hear from you, what are we supposed to do? You're supposed to pick a side, from the choices given to you, because that's how government works. Government is not about getting what you want. Government is about picking from the limited choices given to you. Complaints about your limited choices go unheeded, because no one wants 300 million choices in government since everyone wants to be their own pretty pr…

You've deteriorated to self-parody here. Also you've conceded, in bizarrely triumphant fashion, the awful truth I highlighted at the top of the thread: in USA we effectively have no choice in political outcomes.

I'm glad you agree that you have a choice in your vote.

Now, pick.

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#332

Post by mozumder »

RugnirViking wrote: post #326
mozumder wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So let's hear from you, what are we supposed to do? You're supposed to pick a side, from the choices given to you, because that's how government works. Government is not about getting what you want. Government is about picking from the limited choices given to you. Complaints about your limited choices go unheeded, because no one wants 300 million choices in government since everyone wants to be their own pretty pr…

'Government is not about getting what you want. ' This speaks for itself

If only more people knew this about how government actually worked.

They would complain less, and be more appreciative of the people that actually choose to run for public office.

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#333

Post by sbov »

kazagistar wrote: post #287
ericHosick wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If achieving a free market requires a complete upheaval of all of our governments and laws, then the idea isn't very useful. The idea is extremely useful: act consensual to others. There is no better basis of a social system than this. Having conversations like the one were having now is really all we need. To force the ideas on others in anyway, especially through democracy, would be hypocritical. A social system…

The existence of property is based on a non-consensual model for the purpose of utility.

Which is forced upon others through threat of violence. And was obtained via violence in the first place.

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#334

Post by metaphorm »

costcopizza wrote: post #80

Drive through many American small towns and it looks the exact same. A strip mall with a Subway, a couple national fast food joints, and if you're big enough, Wal-Mart. There are literally 1000s of towns with this copy and paste setup-- how could this not be detrimental when money is going to a huge corporation every time?

you're describing the American cultural wasteland that is the suburbs and exurbs. These communities are drowning because their local vitality has been subsumed by giant national corporations that clone themselves over and over again into every community they operate in. The result is a national monoculture where everyone is worse off. On the plus side, though, your toilet paper costs about 15% less than it used to.

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#335

Post by jessaustin »

mozumder wrote: post #332
RugnirViking wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Government is not about getting what you want. ' This speaks for itself

If only more people knew this about how government actually worked. They would complain less, and be more appreciative of the people that actually choose to run for public office.

If more people knew "about how [this particular] government actually worked", there would be more political assassinations. Fortunately there are other less drastic options, but we'll have to ignore you and your "best of all possible worlds" bullshit to effectively pursue them.

What really blows my mind is that all these self-described "progressives" have decided this particular monstrous warmonger is the line they won't abide crossing. Have you ever actually listened to a single thing HRC said?

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#336

Post by metaphorm »

bko wrote: post #144
maxerickson wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the argument being made. The buyer is better off staying with the single supplier. The argument is that this is a breakdown in markets and should be regulated (for instance by breaking the supplier apart).

If the buyer is better off, and presumably the consumer, who's worse off? The woman who wrote the article that can't compete? She can't force the hospital to go against its interest and purchase her product?

the hospital and its staff are worse off in that they are using products that aren't the best available. the hospital is also worse off in that it is effectively blocked from pursuing innovations in medical device technology because it is obligated to only buy medical devices supplied by the monopolist.

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#337

Post by zeusk »

kamaal wrote: post #308
conanbatt wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who decides what is fair?

Merit. If you have a better product. A bigger corporate shouldn't be allowed to use its war chest to swing things in favor through buying out politicians, law or other such stuff.

and who decides what is a better product and on what basis? a `better` product isn't always what a consumer wants - value for money is a thing.

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#338

Post by mozumder »

jessaustin wrote: post #335
mozumder wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only more people knew this about how government actually worked. They would complain less, and be more appreciative of the people that actually choose to run for public office.

If more people knew " about how [this particular] government actually worked ", there would be more political assassinations. Fortunately there are other less drastic options, but we'll have to ignore you and your "best of all possible worlds" bullshit to effectively pursue them. What really blows my mind is that all these self-described "progressives" have decided this particular monstrous warmonger is the line they…

Oh it's certainly a better system than your "Waaah! Waaah! Why aren't these politicians waiting on me hand-and-foot? Waaah!" system of governance...

Government is about what you do for others.

Government is not about what it does for you.

Why? Because you are insignificant.

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#339

Post by jgalt212 »

sangnoir wrote: post #327
jgalt212 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amen. Matt Stoller is basically the playbook and on how the democrats can regain the common man. My family are multi-generational democrats and it would literally blow the mind of my lost past immigrant grandfather if knew that his party's nominee was taking bigly money from Deutsche Bank and Goldman and soliciting donations from commodities oligarchs from lawless countries. And on top of that, not seemingly giving a…

> Matt Stoller is basically the playbook and on how the democrats can regain the common man. I'm a common man and that there sounds a bit socialistic . Real Americans(TM) pull themselves up by their bootstraps through grit, determination and hard work - they don't need big-government meddling. My feeling is that a negative view of regulation/government action has been unchallenged for decades in red America. In those…

I'm not sure it's socialistic, I think it's more anti-cronyism and anti-regulatory capture. but hey, I could be projecting my hopes/dreams like so many disappointed Obama cheerleaders before me.

In any event, the party/candidate that comes up and can execute a plan to aid the middle class (or least keep them getting pushed around), should rule the roost.

If Trump/Brexit/France showed us anything, it's that big money in politics has hit the point of diminishing returns and one-man, one-vote may not be completely dead.

Re: Want to rescue rural America? Bust monopolies

#340

Post by stinkytaco »

burfog wrote: post #302
astrange wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You want a useless product that will guarantee your death because it meets the dictionary definition of insurance? This is why the real policy issue is lack of healthcare, not lack of "health insurance", which is a fake benefit invented to maybe get you healthcare.

Real insurance involves a gamble. You pay a small amount to get what is essentially a lottery ticket. You win if disaster happens, giving you money to deal with the disaster. Would you buy a lottery ticket if it was known to be a winner? Sure! Would anybody want to sell it? No! That isn't a viable business model. What you are looking for is more like welfare. You have a problem, there is no gamble, you don't have the…

Considering the US is one of the only developed countries not to have some sort of socialized health care, I don't believe it's not doable. The US lags behind on critical metrics like life expectancy and infant mortality. Waiting lists are only getting longer with the consolidation of healthcare into large systems. And that consolidation is driven by doctors leaving private practice because the margins are so thin that the business model doesn't work. Healthcare does not work for anyone in the US except maybe pharmaceuticals and equipment manufacturers and it does work elsewhere.
Post reply on HN