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Does the word Monopoly (not the game) have a negative connotation to you?

Monopoly, Merger, Franchise, Big Business, are these bad things? For the majority, I mean, not the Big man on top.

Public Comments

1. Some yes and some no, but a Monopoly is most certainly a bad thing in a market economy, and I ain't a big fan of large corporations, but franchises and mergers i ain't got nothing against.
2. yes it means control by a single entity and usualy is dominant over competition
3. Monopoly means to minipulate. If it gets me money though WHO GIVES
4. only that it is just one other game created by the same company that created the Ouija board.maybe you are just a little physic
5. I have always related the monopoly word to some one trying to cause me harm or trying to take away from me.
6. monopoly is evil to everyone outside the monopoly.
7. Monopoly is a bad thing for consumer and nation alike. For a personal example anybody remember back when buying a bag of Lays meant buying %90 air with a few chips at the bottom of the bag? Lays fixed that after consumers voted by buying other brands. Today there are no other brands. You pay what Lays thinks you should pay for a bag of chips or you go without chips. I could write pages about how much money Microsoft's monopoly has cost every tax payer and consumer in the world. I sum it up that at least %1 of your earnings are wasted on non-service. That is forced upgrades, fines for non-compliance and incompatable standards. Thats the minium. Wouldn't YOU like to have that %1-5 of your income back to spend on something usefull? Gas prices are another example of how a monopoly negtively affects the consumer and nation. Big Business has both conotations to me. Big biz enables us to do some things that would not be possible otherwise. Big Biz however sees it's customers as the enemy/prey and as such does huge amounts of damage to the world. Big corps have not always been souless nor do they have to be. Intel for example has strived to be a good company for the customer, employees and for nations which it does business in. While it has not always suceeded in these goals it has made real efforts at it. If the majority of companies around had the same attitude Intel started with then Big Biz would not be such a dirty word. Franchises can be a good thing and bad thing. Good in that it gives you a consistant quality and known place to work with. Bad in that it tends to also drive out the indivuals. The mom amd pop store just can't compete generally with a franchise.
8. California gave up its monopoly on the electric market before Enron did its dirty deals. All other US states *have* monopolies to ensure the same rate for electricity, and no price gouging. Or have people forgotten that only California was hit by the manufactured "energy shortage" and blackouts? Go ahead and try to tell me that government monopoly was bad for consumers in other states. A monopoly means one individual or one company controls the market. The word itself is neutral, it's the intent behind the party that holds the monopoly that's the issue. In many countries, governments hold monopolies to protect the consumer and to prevent speculation and market manipulation that could drive prices out of control: telecoms, post offices, central banks, infrastructure, etc. Other monopolies such as Microsoft's can be damaging. Microsoft forced companies to include their software in bundled computers to prevent competition. Other software manufacturers who may have made a better product were shut out of the market by predatory tactics.