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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (349040)	8/31/2007 12:45:52 AM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578302

Your kidding, right? ATT just censored a Pearl Jam song that was critical of Bush. Even if that was really true, it wouldn't make AT&T more powerful than the state. The state has a lot more power to censor. AT&T editing a specific web broadcast. The state could throw you in jail or kill you for saying something it doesn't like. Pearl Jam wasn't forced to shut up and not get their opinion out, in fact AT&Ts action brought much more attention to Pearl Jam's political thought. The government isn't just more powerful than any company, its not even close. Its an orders of magnitude difference to the extent it can be quantified, and its night and day in non number terms. The government has a large army, and the ability to draft people, the government can send people to prison for everything from violating securities rules (if the companies involved where more powerful than the government that would never happen) to selling pot. Business primarily get power either by influencing the government and using its power. Ideally they don't do that so much and just rely on influencing people to buy their products, but you could always say "No, I won't buy". Try saying no to the IRS. The very idea that you can think of companies as being more powerful, or even close in power to the government is like some sort of sick joke.