"Uber-Capitalism"

A Chapter by Matt B

Our economic system, as I see it.

I think it’s time to have a frank discussion about American industry. 

Former president Calvin Coolidge once said that “the business of America is business”.  This is a sentiment that I find myself in agreement with.  Our country has always been built on the backs of successful businesses, as well as the belief that if you work hard, you can get ahead.  That ideal, to me, is the very definition of capitalism.  Personally, I believe that capitalism, as we practice it, is still the most successful and most free economic system in the world.  To quote the band Oingo Boingo, “there’s nothing wrong with wanting to live nice”.  However, I do not think capitalism is a perfect system.  

There are certain large corporations (call them “conglomerates”) whose stated objective is to corner the market by any possible means.  Success and expansion is all well and good, but too much power in the hands of just one or two companies is not.  When companies get too much power,  often civil liberties are ignored, and the company’s opinion becomes (seemingly) the only one that matters.  That is capitalism run amok, or what I like to call “uber-capitalism”.  Let me give you a pertinent example, or perhaps two examples, of this.  

As you probably are aware, Time Warner controls a large amount of US cable systems (it owns a large amount of cable networks as well).  AT&T, of course, basically has cornered the American telephone market (ever tried to make a collect call? Then you know this sound....“bong, AT&T”).  

Needless to say, a corporation consisting of these two (merged) properties would have an immense amount of power.  This is now an unhappy reality; yesterday, a federal judge cleared the way for AT&T to buy Time Warner (with no restrictions, to boot).  The result is that many cable TV-watching and/or phone call-making Americans will now have only one option; that of doing business with AT&T.  I don’t know what you think, but that doesn’t seem right to me.  Indeed, when a certain business has no competition, prices often soar, and the quality of service often goes into the tank (for proof, research what happened when World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) bought World Championship Wrestling (WCW), its main rival).  Sadly, there is another example of this practice that looms large on the horizon.  

In case you haven’t heard, there is a preliminary agreement in place (pending DOJ approval) for Disney to buy 20th Century Fox (itself a division of “NewsCorp”, owned by one Rupert Murdoch of Australia).  The former corporation owns ESPN Networks, as well as the properties of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).  This includes many basic television stations, including the network’s flagship, WABC-TV (New York City).  In terms of the latter company, it owns Fox Broadcasting, including such properties as Fox News Channel and WNYW in New York.  20th Century Fox is also a major player in the film industry.  

Again, it is obvious that the company emerging from a merger of Disney and 20th Century Fox would have an enormous amount of power and control.  I should note that some properties of the latter corporation, such as Fox Sports, are planned to be spun off.  As such, they are not included in the proposed deal....but that will still result in a very large combined company.  For proof of this, let’s look at the southwestern Connecticut TV channels that would come under Disney’s (at least indirect) control.  

Of the main television stations in southwestern Connecticut and New York City, five of them will at least be indirectly controlled by Disney.  These stations are WNYW 5 (Fox’s flagship station), WABC-TV 7 (ABC’s flagship), WTNH 8, WWOR 9 (a main station of “MyNetworkTV”, which is owned by Fox), and WTIC-TV (20 or 21 on most CT cable systems).  If you include the ESPN networks in this list, you can see that the majority of the local market will fall under Disney’s control (FYI, of the other major stations in my area, CBS owns three, Comcast (the owner of NBC) owns two, and two are PBS stations).  As I previously explained, this merger is not good news for people who don’t want to deal with Disney/20th Century Fox (and where will all the liberals go? LOL....sorry, couldn’t resist).  

Maybe, as I’ve been known to be sometimes, I’m wrong on this issue.  Perhaps there’s nothing inherently concerning about one or two companies controlling everything we see, read, and hear.  However, this topic strikes me as being quite 1984-ish (the book, not the year....look it up).  As such, I hope the Department of Justice will oppose this merger.  

To borrow a couple of quotes, “who controls the past, controls the future.  Who controls the future, controls the past” (George Orwell).  And “concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty” (Unknown).  

prev chapter