The black, evil, greedy, corrupt...ect cloud that surrounds cooperate America is a shame or at least it should be. There are two type of businesses, those that reap the benefits of government favors and those that don't. Unfortunately, in the US today, the line between these two types of businesses is getting more and more blurry largely because of the ability for companies to lobby for legislation that changes the competitive landscape in their favor. There are two MAJOR causes for the general distrust and widely negative perception of businesses or at least big businesses today. Numero uno, government handouts. The destructive power of government handouts was first tested largely through subsidies and now in more resent years, bailouts. The second is through "corrupt" legislation or "regulation".
The rail road industry is a perfect example. The government essentially opened it's wallet to subsides the first transcontinental railroads. One these railroads was Union Pacific, which wouldn't even have existed without government subsidies. Soon after its completion it went into bankruptcy with what was one of the most publicized scandals in railroad history. Ultimately, there was no risk of failure because be government was giving a handout. Without risk comes the ability to basically make sure the project fails while you "steal" as much cash from the company before it goes under. Government handouts scream please steal me. The next example is Central Pacific, which was built on federal subsidies. For 30 years they held a monopoly on the railroad business in California charging obscene rate and basically stealing the profits of farmers or shippers in the area. They did this through power of the California legislature. Central Pacific controlled the California legislature and ban any other railroad from entering the state. The won not through innovation, not through free market enterprise, but through legislation and it had a detrimental effect the California's economy. The atrocities of government involvement in the transportation industry have been there since before day one. They date back to beginning of the US, when aristocrats still largely controlled the colonies and many established monopolies that were upheld in state courts. Federal government subsidies record back as far as the early 1800s when they funded one particular steamboat company to run mail from the east coast to the newly annexed west cost via Panama. Why? Because at the time it was not profitable to build such a route given that the West Coast was largely not inhabited. Still, the government needed a way to support its imperialism. These are the actions that have given big business a bad name. The actions that would not have even been possible without government involvement. In almost every situation a private business man emerged providing the same services at cheaper price in a more efficient manor.
The telecom industry effectively went through exactly the same corrupt beginnings as the transportation industry did.
Look at any corrupt business and I can pretty much guarantee that the government was involved in some fashion. Take Fannie and Freddie for example. They are a government-sponsored enterprise or GSE for short. Government backing allowed them to dominate the mortgage-underwriting and many politicians benefited from this either from higher pol(F&F basically financed mortgages for low income earners through the incentive of the affordable housing credit) or sometimes as direct campaign funds.
All that I ask is that you seriously consider what you believe or say before making blanketed assumptions about big business or capitalism in general. I am will to bet that in nearly every instance of corruption you will find the governments hand in the cookie jar.
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