Free competition

Besides breaking down the state, our national leaders have been very busy in recent years in breaking down state monopolies and in selling off state enterprises.

One of the dogms leading their less than inspired actions was that free competition benefits the customer, a dogm somewhat contradictory to the one of globalisation (think about that) and of unlimited growth.

That is sheer horse manure and public deception. In Flemish we have a beautiful word for that : "volksverlakkerij". The real reason was that they needed lots of cash to full the gaping holes created by the almost orgasmic spending sprees of some of their predecessors.

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An exemple (there are dozens of them) of the benefits of free competition to the customer : the "war" between digital TV providers in Belgium is bloody and ferocious. None of the two main providers plays an open and honest game, and the customer pays through the nose. The main arms used by the providers : telling the customers half truths or worse.

Heavy competition between the providers of digital TV led them to choose cheap, inferior technology. One of the consequences is that the energy cost of TV installations on standby is 30 to 60 times higher than needed. For one of the providers, a TV on standby requires almost as much energy as a playing TV.

See : http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=QD1UHPB0&word=sluimerverbruik.

Free competition ? The customer is free to choose the supplier who is going to skin him. That is his freedom. Period.