Patterns in the White Noise:

Apparently, we're not even a truly capitalist society any more

From The Washington Post via MSNBC.com:

Law puts brakes on fleeting gas price war
Maryland regulators step in to boost prices
By Justin Blum Updated: 12:51 a.m. ET May 6, 2005

A gasoline price war erupted in St. Mary's County last week after one station slashed its price for regular to $1.999 a gallon and spurred three others to follow suit, giving drivers some hope of relief at the pump.

But the price dip proved fleeting.

Maryland regulators quickly stepped in and told the stations that their prices were too low. They needed to go up by 5 cents.

In as much time as it takes to fill the tank of an SUV, prices at BJ's Wholesale Club, Sheetz and two Wawa outlets bounced to $2.049 a gallon.

The sudden fluctuation in the Lexington Park area was the result of a little-noticed Maryland law that took effect in 2001. The General Assembly mandated that stations cannot charge less than what they pay for gas -- unless they're lowering prices to compete with a nearby station.

Independent service station owners pressed lawmakers for the measure as a way to protect themselves from big retailers selling gas below cost to drive them out of business and limit competition. Maryland is one of at least 13 states to adopt similar laws, which are not in effect in the District or Virginia.

However, this is yet another example of how our laws and our government are being distorted to serve the interests of corporations and companies over being a true capitalist system where there is competition that promotes both innovation and the lowest prices.

Think about this a moment.

So...

Do we really have the system we think we do?

Did democracy really, truly defeat communism, or do we have a system that is more for the benefit of corporations than for the people?

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