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Because the ability to use force is generally a monopoly of the government, precisely for that reason. A better question would be "how can I be sure that capit
by atemerev 11y ago
Because the ability to use force is generally a monopoly of the government, precisely for that reason.
A better question would be "how can I be sure that capitalists and government won't cooperate for establishing monopolies"? For that, I don't have an adequate answer. At least, in capitalism, there are competitors lobbying against it, creating some virtual political market. Full government monopoly is generally much worse.
- kristofferR 11y agoI think we disagree on the definition of force. I don't think of force as just the power of law, but also the power of size and power. A natural monopoly could, without any government interference or help, exert a lot of the same coercive tactics a government-supported monopoly can. With a large enough size, a natural monopoly could make the barriers of entry for any potential competitor so insurmountable that it would have the same effect as making competition illegal.