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Although you can't fight city hall, sometimes you can buy it. I would be surprised if that method was not attempted. I can't prove it, of course. But anyway, whatever methods they tried didn't work.

But on to the issue of government regulation. Increasingly, I find myself viewing all this in terms of a living body. For the most part, the free market functions well. But it is prone to certain illnesses, pathological conditions, autoimmune disorders, etc. For the most part, it can handle these, given time. A few conditions might actually be fatal. But not many. Some particularly unpleasant maladies might take a very long from which to recover.

Often, it's best to see the doctor and get on medication to speed the recovery process rather than suffer through the illness naturally. Usually, the medication helps us to recover faster. Sometimes it actually saves us from a life-threatening condition. Sometimes, the medication has deleterious side effects. And sometimes the medication prescribed is just plain wrong and we are either not helped, or are actively hurt by it. Such is life.

In most people's opinions, I would say, it is best to go to the doctor when we're sick. Adherents to the Church of Christian Science disagree, and instead seek help from practitioners who help them pray their way back to health. (My family on my mother's side were Christian Scientists, and swore off doctors for years, until cancer finally drove each of them to seek a medical solution, but it was always too late.)

I believe that, despite the risks and possible side effects, this is a case where we need to call the doctor and get medical treatment.

I believe that *eventually* the free market *would* act to heal itself. Monopolies which are not natural monopolies tend, I think, to have a natural life-cycle, finding themselves in a position where they have to squeeze harder and harder to get more money out of their existing customer base, until one day, a competitor comes along and the customers are more than ready to jump ship despite the barriers they may face in doing so.

But the question is... how long are we willing to wait for nature to take its course?

Edited 2007-10-22 20:23