[lbo-talk] re: from the backward south

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Thu Jan 13 06:19:43 PST 2005



> [Editorial] The move by Lafayette (LA) city officials to build a
> municipal
> "triple play" video, phone and data system shows spunk and creativity.
> The
> plan mirrors the action Lafayette's city fathers took a century ago when
>
> they realized the private power companies were passing them by in favor
> of
> larger, more lucrative markets in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. To
> survive,
> they built their own municipal power system. The future of Lafayette
> shouldn't be left to the whim of the big telecommunications companies,
> insists City Parish President Joey Durel. Installing fiber-optic cable,
> he
> credibly argues, is no different from laying down sidewalks or sewer
> lines.
> Louisiana regulators are busy reviewing the case. But for Lafayette to
> lose, there are a couple of things the regulators will have to ignore:
> fairness and common sense.
> [SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: USAToday Editorial Staff]
> http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050111/edit11.art.htm

That does not surprise me at all. In th elate 1980s I briefly worked as a local government consultant for Santa Clara County in CA (aka "Silicon Valley"). After the 1989 quake that destroyed much of the area infrastructure, the county opened a public transit bus line between Santa Cruz and San Jose to alleviate commuting problems. The county was immediately threatened with a law suit but the Peerless bus company that operated an exceptionally shitty service in the area. The company threaten unlawful competition from government and violating its monopoly rights (sic!) to serve that market. The county eventually won but only because it was an emergency measure and after making concessions (i.e. hiring private company to operate county buses).

So the moral of this and similar stories is that this country is held hostage by business interests and nothing will change until the backbones and skulls of those interests are people representing them are thoroughly crushed. The sad part is that the American sheeple like it this way - they do not at all object to paying exorbitant fees for services that elsewhere are publicly available - as long as these are called private fees or premiums rather than taxes. So it will not happen here, at least not any time soon.

Wojtek



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