UtopianRanger
Posts: 3251
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quote:
(This is one of many reasons why I don't believe in laissez-faire capitalism: the only goal of a corporation is to make a profit, and their pursuit of that goal is not necessarily in line with the greater goals of society. I remember we had a discussion about this a couple of months ago, but it kind of degenerated.) Lam….. No offense brother, but looking at the petroleum industry is a terrible way for one to evaluate capitalism… Capitalism only works well when there is competition. When the competition dwindles, the competitors get to know each other better, and then they collude. It happens all the time, whether it be the Mafia or the neighborhood markets in a small town. Our anti trust laws are supposed protect us, but much of the time they are only selectively enforced. As far as the Petroleum industry: I actually blame congress for approving all the mergers. I think there’s two cases set to go before the high court, that provide ample proof the oil companies have colluded to fix prices. I think if you want a good example of capitalism, one needs to look no farther than the consumer electronics industry. It’s thriving. And because of capitalism, there’s constantly new innovation in the market place. Personally, since oil is a necessity for everyday life and there are no other viable alternatives yet, I think the whole Petroleum industry needs to be converted over to a public utility and operate with no more than a six percent return on profit. And then, that six percent can only be re-invested back into R/D and used to find new sources of energy. A far as the old thread : I enjoyed it thoroughly, and read all the posts twice, even though I missed part of it due to a short vacation. JMHO - The Ranger
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"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do... the body is never tired if the mind is not tired." -General George S. Patton
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