5 ms·
I wasn't claiming that it existed somewhere in the world. I was arguing against the idea that a natural monopoly which is harmful to consumers can exist or has
by pitaj 8y ago
I wasn't claiming that it existed somewhere in the world. I was arguing against the idea that a natural monopoly which is harmful to consumers can exist or has existed. He didn't give any evidence that one has. All he gave was a status quo fallacy. Just because water utility competition doesn't exist, doesn't mean it can't exist, or wouldn't exist in a free market.
I don't need to give evidence. I'm not the one advocating for government action, I support inaction.
- Retric 8y agoYou argued that consumer hostile monopoly’s don’t exist without government. When presented with direct evidence that they do exist you when back to theory. Look, theory that does not apply in the real world is meaningless. And in the real world monopoly’s exist without government backing, making your argument invalid. That’s perfectly ok, but now it’s time for you to realize you made a false argument and think of some new idea of how things operate.
- pitaj 8y ago> when presented with direct evidence that they do exist you when back to theory When was that? He never named a bunch of natural monopolies which exploited consumers. > in the real world monopoly’s exist without government backing Where is the evidence of this. My original comment clearly stated that I hadn't seen any evidence of consumer-hostile monopolies occurring without government backing. And in this thread, I've yet to see any lists of monopolies period, let alone ones people claimed to be natural.
- Retric 8y ago> I've yet to see any lists of monopolies period Large scale water delivery via underground pipes was the example monopoly given. That's literally a list of 1,000+ monopolies.
- pitaj 8y agoI already addressed the water delivery monopolies when I said this: > The water example you gave is an example of the government proactively monopolizing such utilities. Every water utility I know of is heavily regulated by local governments. Why? I don't know. I've never seen any evidence that such regulations were reactive in nature. But that fact of reality is not evidence that water delivery is an industry which will naturally monopolize to a point at which it is harmful to consumers.
- Retric 8y agoThat’s not the case in the third world. You see water monopoly’s even in failed states. This comes from the fact their are zero known counter examples going back thousands of years, worldwide.
- empath75 8y agoIn the entire history of the world -- not a single place where there was water utility competition? It seems that if such a thing were possible it would have happened at least once.
- pitaj 8y agoWe haven't built a base on the moon, but it's certainly possible.
- TeMPOraL 8y agoWe haven't been even theoretically capable of building a base on the Moon until last few decades, and we are barely capable even now. But we've been capable of building water delivery pipes for hundreds, if not thousands of years.