Quote:
Electricity should be regulated, you must have electricity to survive these days (a lot of people would freeze/starve to death otherwise). You have to have it to survive so you have no choice, it needs to be regulated because you have no choice in whether you pay for it or not.
You are totally free and able to generate heat in a fireplace and open the @#%^ing window. This isn't something out of the 18th century; my
grandparents did it. My
parents didn't even grow up with modern centralized air and heating; that's why shotgun houses still exist in the middle of the damn city.
Food preservation? You're totally free to invest in an icebox. Again, grandparents did it. My grandmother even still has one in a house that she rents out. You don't have to eat perishables; my late aunt's house still has two walk in pantries completely
stuffed to the brim with canned goods and dry food.
Light? Go to bed when it's dark or get some candles. That's not even a hard one.
I can't think of anything else powered by electricity that is not an obvious and total luxury.
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We need more regulation of the market, especially when the internet is no more a luxury than the freaking electrical company. Hell I can't even turn in papers sometimes without email. It would be
impossible to go to university without it.
As long as they don't regulate content, and stick purely to regulating price, I think it's wonderful.
Edited, Jun 18th 2009 5:14pm by Pensive