While the federal government usually gets most of the
attention when it comes to lobbying and doling out favors to big corporations,
it happens just as much with state and local governments.
It was recently reported that Motorola controls about 80% of
the emergency telecommunications in the U.S. There are cities and states across the country handing out
noncompetitive contracts to the company.
Of course, it is not surprising that Motorola spends millions
of dollars on lobbying, along with donations to various groups associated with
police and firefighters, as well as, of course, politicians.
The so-called left in this country likes to rail against big
business. Think about the Occupy
Wall Street group. In some ways,
they have a point. But they are trying
to blame capitalism when what we have isn’t capitalism. It is cronyism. In some ways, it is the economic system
of fascism. It is an alliance
between big government and big business.
In a capitalist society, the government wouldn’t be doling
out favors to big business. In a
true capitalist system, the government would be there to protect people and
their property from encroachment and to enforce contracts. In our current world, the government
instead takes people’s property and hands it out to those with political
connections, while throwing a few scraps back at the lower and middle classes.
It is ironic that some people justify government regulations
and interference in the marketplace because they say that we need protection
from big business. But consumers
can protect themselves from big business by refusing to buy their products in a
free market, if they don’t like the products or they are too expensive.
Instead, government interference gives us what we have
today. It ensures the success of
big business by forcing us to buy things (via taxation) that we wouldn’t
otherwise purchase. Government
interference also tends to set up rules and regulations that make it impossible
for the little guy to compete.
We also hear about the threat of monopolies if the
government didn’t step in and regulate and control the business
environment. Yet, it is the
government that is creating the monopolies where we have no choice in the
matter. As mentioned, Motorola has
80% of the market in this one category because of government contracts at
various levels.
A company that obtains an 80% market share in a truly free
market would really have to deliver a superior product at a superior
price. Even giant companies such
as Walmart cannot control 80% of the market. There is almost always competition. And if Walmart did achieve this without
government help, then it would be a result of delivering consumers what they
want at low prices.
Motorola is just one example of a big company that relies on
government for its business instead of relying strictly on its innovation and
quality. I guess you could say
that they rely on their marketing, but it is marketing by lining the pockets of
politicians to use your tax money to buy its products. In this case, the company is not
profitable because of consumers voluntarily purchasing its products.