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by alwayslikethis 464 days ago
The main benefit of having US monopolies is the spying capabilities that it enables. No other country ever had such a global surveillance network.

For the average American, both the efficient parts of monopolies (reduced redundancy which means fewer well-paying jobs) as well as the inefficient parts (reduced competition, higher prices, reduced standards of living) are net negatives. The political influence inherent to monopolies are also a negative effect on democracy, whereas foreign monopolies tend to have a harder time maintaining political influence.