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Free competition and Monopolies

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I found Lenin’s critique of imperialism quite interesting. In several sections, he criticized Kautsky’s argument for peaceful democracy as reactionary and simply another form of bourgeois reformism. He further states “Kautsky‘s theoretical critique of imperialism has nothing in common with Marxism and serves no other purpose than as a preamble to propaganda for peace and unity with the opportunists and the social-chauvinists, precisely for the reason that it evades and obscures the very profound and radical contradictions of imperialism: the contradictions between monopoly and free competition that exists side by side with it…”(p. 260). The constant opposition of free competition and monopoly is grounded in the idea that free competition decentralizes means of production, such that no one or group of capitalists have a concentrated amount of financial capital.


The critique of imperialism challenges this general relationship by not only claiming this dichotomy as illusionary, but reciprocal in nature. Lenin states that free competition strengthens the centralization of capital in the hands of the bourgeois/capitalist. I agree with this critique in that we have seen this form of imperialism time and time again historically as the US government as well as large transnational corporations call for market deregulation across boarders. Such calls for ‘free flow of information’ draw on principles of democracy, freedom of expression etc, all of which serve the specific economic and political agendas under the guise of free trade. It is during these moments that the positive relationship between free competition and monopoly rears its ugly head, while further exposing true political agendas. I have not formulated an opinion about this yet, but it sure is disturbing. Now I truly understand the Parker Brother's board game, "Monopoly." More surprisingly, I understand why it takes so long for someone to win ever win. Maybe I should go play it a few times and see how I feel afterwards. I'm sure an answer to the this conundrum is bound to surfaces eventually.

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