Comcast Talks Of Time Warner Takeover. America Talks Fear Of Monopoly

Comcast is on the verge of purchasing Time Warner Cable and I have yet to hear from any person that believes this benefits anyone except Comcast and its stockholders.

I swim across the conservative blogosphere and can only find Libertarians who have the courage to type and "post comment" on  the danger of this corporate inevitability.  This is the history of corporations and in many ways it is the mission of corporations.  At some point, when an industry reaches market saturation, the only hope for market share expansion is the hostile taking of it from your competitor. It works well for the consumer in the short run because of the vicious price war that we get to enjoy the fruits of.

Sometimes low price is a function of aggressive competition, but sometimes it is the function of a violent attack.  Much like the really fun game that we spent hours enjoying as kids, a Monopoly is all about economic domination.  Good players will risk cash flow for the chance to expand income potential, but it is certainly a risk that you take for one purpose and one purpose only.  Crush the competition.

The most dangerous thing you can do in the board game, and the real one, is miss out on a chance to squeeze your opponents into submission.  Playing to simply stay in the game is a ready made formula for losing. Only aggression is rewarded in the end, even if caution and timing insist on being heard from. This is the American Free Market Economy at its finest.  This is also the part that many pretend doesn't exist until the 20 or 40 years that these moments come around.

It seems terribly difficult for some to applaud the beauty of capitalism while also accepting the limitations of it as well.  The limitations have generally manifested themselves by the casualties created when capitalism disregards the human lives it functions to provide for.  Like when the trickle down doesn't arrive because the robber baron does what the law allows.  Government is the only option when time arrives to destroy a monopoly or stop one from coming to be.  This is the most necessary socialism that capitalist' ever encouraged.

However; what is the real alternative?  Most of us seem more inclined towards the kind of cable television that is not impacted by the weather as much as satellite cable is, but should the consumer decide on this one or do we need Uncle Sam to step in and save us from price hikes?  Isn't satellite enough of a competitive alternative for the Free Market to be free to market?

Personally, I am excited either way.  Comcast cable is about to make us television addicts pick a side in this war over the role and scope of government in the Free Market arena. With the abundance of really really bad socialized functions of government, it is good to remind ourselves that we all agree on  the necessity of government do destroy monopolies, even if we will now decide if this is the right time to use it.