Re: Congress wants ///CAPITALISM Not Socialism!!!
> I'll start by making note of a couple of facts that can
> easily be forgotten in debates:
> 1. Despite the thread title, it is by no means clear than
> any more than a handful of congress people want this
> particular legislation -- being introduced with a couple of
> sponsors is a long ways from being passed.
> 2. There is absolutely nothing socialist about the proposed
> legislation; whether you agree or disagree with the concept
> of ownership limits, the fact is that this legislation would
> maintain PRIVATE ownership of broadcast media.
The airwaves ie. radio frequencies are owned by the government. Radio stations use them under authority of the government and must operate under the government rules.
You may not like to face that fact, but government ownership of the airwaves is Socialism. Yes, most stations (outside of NPR) are private, but they are under the thumb of government in a way that most businesses are not in this country. There is the threat of being put out of business, if the station does not follow all of the rules laid down by the government.
> Those statements of fact out of the way, my OPINION is that
> reinstating tougher ownership limits would be a good thing
> -- and would result in increased competition and better
> radio service to the public.
I have not seen instances where there is an improved product or service by increasing regulation.
I'm less enthusiastic about
> reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, since I see substantial
> first amendment problems with that.
>
> > You guys got it all wrong. What radio needs is LESS
> > regulation in a big way. Less regulation means private
> > ownership of as many frequencies as you want to own and
> are
> > able to buy.
>
> I disagree. As we've seen greater ownership concentration,
> we've seen a steady decrease in innovation and local service
> in the radio business. Since it seems not to be working, I
> fail to see why we'd want to try more of it..
What you wrote is a result of the difficulty of entering the radio business or market. A million dollars and many attorneys will help to establish a new station or sale of a station now. There is no reason why buying a radio station should be any more complicated than buying a home or a piece of land. If you have the money, then a contract can be made and a closing can take place. What is so hard about that? Then people who love music or love radio can get into the business.
> > Why don't you people see that regulation of anything, be
> it
> > peanuts or radio frequencies will lead to inefficiency and
>
> > eventually unmarketability? That is what is happening to
> > radio now.
>
> I think that you're so anxious to see everything through the
> ideological filter that "regulation is always evil", that
> you've blinded yourself to the evidence that suggests that
> some regulation can help maintain competition and actually
> increases the effectiveness of the market place.
My experience is that regulation squeezes the life out of any industry where it is prevalent. I have yet to see an exception. I can give side by side examples where the public is served much better with little or no regulation compared to much regulation.
> On the one hand, excessive regulation is inefficient and
> smothers competition, resulting in poor service to the
> public. But at the other extreme, the sort of deregulation
> that you want will lead to even more consolidation than
> we've already seen -- and the evidence suggests that the
> reduced competition also leads to lackluster programming and
> poor service to the public. The challenge is in finding the
> right balance.
>
> In radio this is complicated by the basic fact that the
> number of available channels are limited. This means that
> when one company owns more stations in a given location,
> there is inherently that much less opportunity for someone
> else to come in and compete. All the political and economic
> ideology in the world won't change that basic fact.
There are frequencies around the country that are unused due to regulation. If every available frequency that is without interference could be open, then there would be some real competition. I understand that NYC and SoCal have all their frequencies used. That is not the case for most of the country.
The amount of land is limited too, but that has not brought about intense radio style regulation of land.
> > I suggest that if you want to know the way things are in
> the
> > real world, you should pick up a book by Ayn Rand or
> Milton
> > Friedman. Even if the book is fifty years old! They got
> it
> > right.
I know that what has been tested by Friedman in the real world has suceeded. I also know that regulation has shown some bad effects in the real world where it is used.
> Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman are about as "real world" as
> any other radicals of any political persuasion, whether far
> left or far right. I know more want to use them as "road
> maps" of good policy than I would care to use Karl Marx.
> And, yeah, I agree that Rand and Friedman have been
> influential...but that doesn't make them right. Plenty of
> folks have been influential in the past, only to be
> disproven when their theories are tested in the real world
> and found lacking.
>
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