<story><title>Tesla Can Topple the Car-Dealer Monopoly</title><url>http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-20/tesla-can-topple-the-car-dealer-monopoly</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>res0nat0r</author><text>Could we please stop conflating the military and use of it by the government to laws that were enacted long ago to protect consumers when buying a car? The military isn&amp;#x27;t going to take over a dealership with armed service personnel to keep Tesla from selling their cars. Sheesh.</text></item><item><author>baddox</author><text>The government isn&amp;#x27;t just a normal player on the field that happens to be bigger and stronger. Government also enjoys the acceptance by society that it is the &lt;i&gt;only&lt;/i&gt; actor with certain authorities, like the authority to mediate conflict with violence, imprison and execute people, break up companies or prevent mergers by force, and fund itself via taxation. If a &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; organization did any of those things, you would probably resist, and your neighbors would probably take your side.</text></item><item><author>chongli</author><text>&lt;i&gt;It&amp;#x27;s absolutely comical to me how politicians will tote the values of a capitalistic society, then turn around and get on their knees for special interest lobbies.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is only a contradiction if you view the government as some sort of impartial referee in the game of capitalism. If instead you rightly view them as the biggest player on the field that bullies everyone else and picks favourites then there is no contradiction.</text></item><item><author>gxs</author><text>One of the great things that has come of this entire ordeal is simply education.&lt;p&gt;I usually take pride in doing my research well before buying something, but it had never really occurred to me that the dealers are forced middlemen. It had never occurred to me that it is ILLEGAL for Toyota to sell a car directly to me.&lt;p&gt;I am rooting for Tesla now with even more fervor. It&amp;#x27;s absolutely comical to me how politicians will tote the values of a capitalistic society, then turn around and get on their knees for special interest lobbies.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>BrandonMarc</author><text>... and militarized police swat teams would &lt;i&gt;never&lt;/i&gt; be used to, say, raid a barber shop and enforce up-to-date barber licenses. Oh, wait.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://reason.com/archives/2010/12/13/the-swat-team-would-like-to-se&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;reason.com&amp;#x2F;archives&amp;#x2F;2010&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;13&amp;#x2F;the-swat-team-would-li...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s right. Floridian police raided several barber shops, with a warrant to ensure the barbers were licensed practitioners, and while they were at it they handcuffed people, held them at gunpoint, and even arrested several for unrelated crimes (coincidence?!).&lt;p&gt;And if only such an event were an outlier ... sadly, it&amp;#x27;s become common, around the country.</text></comment>
<story><title>Tesla Can Topple the Car-Dealer Monopoly</title><url>http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-20/tesla-can-topple-the-car-dealer-monopoly</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>res0nat0r</author><text>Could we please stop conflating the military and use of it by the government to laws that were enacted long ago to protect consumers when buying a car? The military isn&amp;#x27;t going to take over a dealership with armed service personnel to keep Tesla from selling their cars. Sheesh.</text></item><item><author>baddox</author><text>The government isn&amp;#x27;t just a normal player on the field that happens to be bigger and stronger. Government also enjoys the acceptance by society that it is the &lt;i&gt;only&lt;/i&gt; actor with certain authorities, like the authority to mediate conflict with violence, imprison and execute people, break up companies or prevent mergers by force, and fund itself via taxation. If a &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; organization did any of those things, you would probably resist, and your neighbors would probably take your side.</text></item><item><author>chongli</author><text>&lt;i&gt;It&amp;#x27;s absolutely comical to me how politicians will tote the values of a capitalistic society, then turn around and get on their knees for special interest lobbies.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is only a contradiction if you view the government as some sort of impartial referee in the game of capitalism. If instead you rightly view them as the biggest player on the field that bullies everyone else and picks favourites then there is no contradiction.</text></item><item><author>gxs</author><text>One of the great things that has come of this entire ordeal is simply education.&lt;p&gt;I usually take pride in doing my research well before buying something, but it had never really occurred to me that the dealers are forced middlemen. It had never occurred to me that it is ILLEGAL for Toyota to sell a car directly to me.&lt;p&gt;I am rooting for Tesla now with even more fervor. It&amp;#x27;s absolutely comical to me how politicians will tote the values of a capitalistic society, then turn around and get on their knees for special interest lobbies.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>socrates1998</author><text>How do you think personal and private property laws get enforced?&lt;p&gt;Don&amp;#x27;t be under the illusion that our system is built upon trust and volunteer acceptance. It&amp;#x27;s built upon overwhelming brute force.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;he military isn&amp;#x27;t going to take over a dealership with armed service personnel to keep Tesla from selling their cars.&lt;p&gt;Who do you think the car dealerships will call when Telsa refuses to shut his stores down?  The police.  They will confiscate the property, arrest the managers&amp;#x2F;owners and shut down the business.&lt;p&gt;That is overwhelming brute force whether you call it the military or the police.</text></comment>