Horologium

June 06, 2003
Antitrust Law—A Primer

William Sjostrom, at AtlanticBlog, ran across a post at CalPundit that he found to be fundamentally flawed. He lays out his case in this link-laden post, which explains why antitrust law is not needed in a true capalistic system. He ends the post with a snippet from a poem entitled "Tom Smith and His Incredible Bread Machine":

You're gouging on your prices if You charge more than the rest. But it's unfair competition If you think you can charge less. A second point that we would make To help avoid confusion: Don't try to charge the same amount: That would be collusion! You must compete. But not too much For if you do, you see, Then the market would be yours And that's monopoly!

If you've ever heard the Rush song "The Trees", you'll hear a similar strain of libertarian thought. Upon reading "Tom Smith", I immediately thought of this song.

posted on June 06, 2003 04:39 PM

Comments:

You found "The Trees" to be an example of libertarian thought?

I thought it was an adolescent attempt to explain why there are wars.

Tastes vary. So do opinions.

I saw Rush when they opened for Mountain at Asbury Park Convention Hall. I remember thinking, neat guitar player, but that lead singer has a weird voice. Bring on the Man-Mountain!

posted by Meryl Yourish on June 8, 2003 10:21 AM

Actually, it was my former roommate, the Rush fanatic, who told me about the song. I was spouting off another diatribe about class warfare (yes, I pontificate about politics in real life as well), and he said that I sounded a lot like a song from Rush. I later found out that Neal Peart (drummer/lyricist for Rush) was outspokenly libertarian. Puts a whole new spin on songs such as "Free Will".

And yes, Geddy Lee *does* have a weird voice. (grin)

posted by timekeeper on June 8, 2003 11:56 AM

I actually believe the song is more of a reflection of the consequences of equalitarianism and entitlement found in socialized mindset of the West.

Substitute maples with any 'victim' group, and oaks with thier 'oppressers'. Sounds like a typical lament found in any newspaper, on any given day.

I have this on my old Bl*gsp*t site. Maybe one day I will figure out how to have it play in the background of my new blog.

posted by Jack on June 9, 2003 01:49 PM

"The Trees" is indeed a libertarian allegory, as were many of their songs around that time (Peart has described himself as a "right-wing liberatarian", and the 2112 liner notes thank Ayn Rand due to the similarities to her short story "Anthem").

He's gotten a bit squishier in his old age though: "Red Tide" is by-the-numbers enviro-alarmism, for instance.

(Why yes, I am a Rush fanboy, how did you know?)

posted by Ian S. on June 9, 2003 03:48 PM