Roderick van Domburg’s Blog

It’s a short read: Socialist Party raises questions in parliament on including Windows (Dutch). Ending statement:

According to [Socialist Party Member] Gerkens one solution is to provide Windows separately from the computer. In that way the customer himself can choose which operating system he would most like to use. “That would improve the market economy.”

My initial reaction: have they crazily come to their senses?

I don’t know though. The phrase “market economy” definitely has this capitalist ring to it, but what if we consider the near-monopoly that Microsoft has with its Windows operating system?

It’s a funny thing. One the one hand, monopolies are an entrepreneur’s ideal. On the other hand, it’s the driving force behind a socialist economic structure. The practical implications for the socialist thinking are interesting to gauge: monopolies are fine so long as they aren’t acquired by enterprises.

Is there fairness in that? Does it serve the public interest? There is a case to be made here, though it is surely not consistent from a practical point of view.

Filed under: Politics, Technology by Roderick
Tags: capitalism, monopolies, socialism, sp, windows