[blue-duncan]

"Gates has forced nobody to use his products, he has no monopoly; that's just a left-wing myth."

You might want to google "Micrsoft Anti Trust" to see how many times it has been sued for anti trust violations and how many settlements it has agreed to with the Justice Department. As much as you decry Anti Trust legislation I haven't seen you complain about Copyright and Trademark laws that give monopoly status to some or the licensing of communications or zoning or safety regulations in transportation, health care, and food services. These are all restrictions on capitalism because of the abuses of the market by I assume men who just wanted to make a profit.

"It comes out of a the moral certainty that the initiation of force is always wrong:

Self esteem, a cardinal principle of Rand's theory, is based on self pride which is a competitive vice; a negative force in relationships.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

"You might want to google "Micrsoft Anti Trust" to see how many times it has been sued for anti trust violations and how many settlements it has agreed to with the Justice Department."

This is your argument? The lawsuits against Microsoft were nonsense. They settled because that is how the shakedown goes. They never had a monopoly and forced nobody to buy their product. It's all about how much money you can extort from business. That's the essence of antitrust. Little whiny companies that can't do what Microsoft does want the government to use force so they can get a piece of Microsoft's action. It's not much different then the Mafia.

"As much as you decry Anti Trust legislation I haven't seen you complain about Copyright and Trademark laws that give monopoly status to some or the licensing of communications or zoning or safety regulations in transportation, health care, and food services."

Be specific and give some examples. I can't make a statement for or against without more details. I do agree with copyright and intellectual property rights. I don't agree with zoning laws.

"Self esteem, a cardinal principle of Rand's theory, is based on self pride which is a competitive vice; a negative force in relationships."

Only in a degenerate moral system is self esteem and self pride considered a vice. I feel sorry for people who feel that taking pride in their accomplishments is a sin.


"No, I dislike some of their business practices, but dislike intensly, their lust for power over politics, the markets and people."

As long as they don't initiate force, they should be free to do whatever they wish.