HERSHEY FOODS AND GOVERNMENT RACKETEERING
I'm completely disgusted by the government nosiness in the proposed sale of Hershey Foods. Yesterday, the charitable trust that controls Hershey conceded the political and legal obstacles in selling its stock were too great, and took the firm off the auction block. The Pennsylvania Attorney General had even filed a lawsuit to stop the sale.

I want my readers to consider for a moment the idea of the government blocking the sale of their stock, home, automobile, or any other personal property. Hopefully my readers should be outraged at the idea. My principled readers should also be outraged at what happened to the charitable trust that tried to sell its property. You can read some excellent comments at The Intellectual Passivist here and here.

The days where an entire town's economy is dependent upon one large firm are probably numbered. Businesses are tired of being held hostage by the government racket not to close inefficient and unproductive plants in smaller towns. This might be the final nail in the coffin for big businesses being located outside of large metropolitan areas. Don't expect factories that support an entire local economy to be built anymore unless a business receives enough tax breaks and government subsidies to make it worthwhile to be held captive by the government when the plant is no longer efficient.