Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site whuxl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!mhuxn!houxm!whuxl!orb From: orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: robber barons Message-ID: <391@whuxl.UUCP> Date: Fri, 7-Dec-84 19:00:39 EST Article-I.D.: whuxl.391 Posted: Fri Dec 7 19:00:39 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 8-Dec-84 06:20:48 EST References: <737@oliven.UUCP> Organization: Bell Labs Lines: 38 > [] > > >Exactly. "private security firms are answerable to their customers". > >It seems to me that both Libertarians and their opponents forget some > >basic facts of history. In the 19th century the "robber barons" controlling > >the oil, mining and other industries had their own private security firms-- > >they served their customers very well and massacred hundreds of union > >members who were fighting for such radical ideas as: > > > A brief view of the history books of the period will also give, > numerous accounts of the national guard, federal troops ,local > constabulary etc. being called out to massacre union members. > This was NOT a period of history that could be described as > Libertarian , OR lassez-faire capitalist. The Republican party evolved > into its present form during this era - selling favors to Big Business. > > The abuses so ablely described above were , as always, the > result of the corruption of the governmental process. Only governments > can perpetuate monopolies by 'robber barons' on anyone else. > > To try to lay the failures of that era at the feet of the > Libertarians, is intellectual dishonesty of the highest order. > > danw Oh, come now, how did "government" have anything to do with John D. Rockefeller's control of 99% of the oil industry? He took it over all by himself! This is precisely the problem Libertarians with their belief in the magical "invisible hand" fail to address: how did once free markets come to be dominated by a few firms? Does this not seem to have been a natural outgrowth of the economic system itself? What would prevent Standard Oil from acquiring a monopoly with no government intervention? The fact is they did so. Why has our present economy become more and more dominated by large oligpolies? tim sevener whuxl!orb