Stroking the dog

As someone who is not a pet lover, I find it mildly amusing when someone spends a lot of time stroking a dog, only to find it jumps up and bites them in the bum. A similar principle applies to this blog posting by Iain Dale. The Tories love 'free market' principles. They are the hallmark of Thatcherites everywhere. The strong survive, the weak get squeezed and go to the wall. So businesses grow at the expense of other businesses who are unable to compete with the sheer economic power of their rivals. The powerful exploit their position in the so-called 'free' market to the disadvantange of their weaker rivals. It's a jungle out there, Jim, but it's life as we know it. As Iain Dale notes, small specialist shops, like record shops and book shops cannot compete with supermarkets and the huge Internet based companies, so you are left with whatever they want you to read or hear. Surprisingly, Iain, it's no different for bakers, or butchers shops, or small delis... or even cinemas. These businesses cannot compete with the huge corporate buying power of Tescos, Sainsburys, Asda or MGM. But hey, perhaps there is hope yet. If we wait long enough for these giant conglomerates to keep swallowing up their rivals... all we will have to do is nationalise the one company and then we can start planning a proper society based on equity, justice and diversity.