Rant for a rainy day

For anyone who hasn't read it may I recommend Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. The book documents how big business and government have conspired to keep down the common man so that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

Witness Ontario's major brewers who control the majority of the beer market. When you-brew store-fronts started accounting for 10% of all beer consumed they panicked and lobbied government to levy sufficient excise taxes on the product to remove the price incentive to brew your own.

Brewers Retail in Ontario will be taking a major hit when beer sales begin in Ontario grocery stores.

Bell Canada has had its shorts in a knot ever since the government removed its monopoly on telephone service and allowed customer owned phones.

Cell phone service in Canada is controlled by a small coterie of service providers who conspire to keep prices high and squeeze competitors out.

Cable TV providers are another near monopoly that have long conspired to keep service charges high. When forced to unbundle cable service they made the basic package so undesirable no one wants it. In protest customers have been cutting the cable by the hundreds of thousands in favour of streaming services such as Net Flicks. Hard to feel sorry for them.

Cab companies are reacting to ride sharing operations such as Uber fearing they will cut into their profits. In many major cities a few companies enjoy a near monopoly on the trade and lobby municipal governments to ensure their profits.

When Napster made file sharing of mp3's easy major record labels panicked and lobbied government to shut them down. Major labels missed the boat on the marketing of electronic media and CD sales have plummeted to the point that storefronts are becoming a rare commodity and record labels are seeing their sales continually drop.

Online streaming services such as NetFlix have put storefront DVD Rental Companies such as Blockbuster out of business. Recently even Best Buy has ceased stocking a large catalogue of DVDs. If you still want a DVD you have to order it online from Amazon or another such enterprise.

The high price of the movie theatre experience and the exorbitant pricing of pop corn, drinks, and other confections at such outlets has made home viewing a more attractive alternative. Large screen LCD TV's and multi-channel sound systems make the quality difference negligible and provide the option to push pause for bathroom and food breaks. Also eliminates the need for a baby sitter, the drive, parking and the security risks of large malls, dressing for the weather, and waiting in line.

Audio books on cassette are a thing of the past though rumour has it that the cassette is making a comeback. Audio books are now on CD or even more convenient streamed online. Bibliophiles still prefer the look, feel, and smell of a hardcover book in their hands but e-Books and e-Book readers have made inroads into book sales. The likes of Amazon and Chapters Book in Canada have put most independent booksellers out of business. And then there's the phenomenon of customers checking out a book in the store and then using their smartphone to order it online. e-Books allow one to order books and magazines and receive them instantly from the comfort and privacy of one's own home and without the danger of their being out of stock. Better still one can now borrow them for free from your local library since your taxes have already paid for them.

Big box stores such as Wal-Mart have a lot to answer for putting independent local stores out of business and buying their products off-shore thus putting local manufacturers out of business and putting thousands out of work. If no one has a job how can they buy anything. Shoppers Drug in Canada has put most small independent druggists out of business. Office Depot has done the same to local stationers. Home Depot has led to the demise of the service provided by local hardware stores. Grocery shopping and the food industry generally is monopolized by about three holding companies North American-wide. Canadian towns and cities have been Malled to death turning downtown cores into ghost towns. The rare community that has managed to evade the arrival of big box stores celebrate the conviviality of their healthy main streets. Ban Starbucks, MacDonalds, and Tim Hortons in favour of locally owned bakeries, diners and coffee shops.