"Monopolists who fear competition and who distrust democracy because it stands for equal opportunity would like to secure their position against small and energetic enterprise"
About this Quote
Henry A. Wallace links concentrated economic power to political illiberalism, warning that those who dominate markets often come to resent the very forces that might dislodge them. Competition threatens their profits; democracy threatens their privilege by promising equal opportunity. Faced with both, monopolists seek to fortify their position, not by out-innovating small and energetic rivals, but by reshaping the rules to lock them out.
As Franklin Roosevelt’s vice president and a leading architect of the New Deal, Wallace had watched the Great Depression expose the costs of market concentration and financial manipulation. During World War II he sharpened his critique, especially in his 1944 writings on the danger of American fascism, where he described a synergy between monopoly capital and authoritarian politics. The danger, he argued, lies less in goose-stepping theatrics than in quiet forms of capture: lobbying that undermines antitrust enforcement, propaganda that smears reformers and labor as subversive, contract structures and patent thickets that close off avenues for newcomers, and control of credit, distribution, and media that tilts the field.
For Wallace, democracy is not only a ballot but a social commitment to fair chances. Small businesses, independent farmers, and inventors embody this ideal by keeping markets open and innovation alive. When monopolists succeed in insulating themselves, the economy ossifies and political life coarsens; citizens begin to experience democracy as a shell that protects insiders. Hence his insistence on robust antitrust, transparent regulation, and policies that diffuse opportunity rather than concentrate it.
The observation resonates in any era marked by rising concentration. Network effects, data advantages, and regulatory arbitrage can harden incumbency, tempting dominant firms to prefer governance that safeguards their moat over institutions that broaden opportunity. Wallace’s point is both economic and civic: guarding competitive markets and equal opportunity is a democratic task, because the health of self-government depends on whether outsiders can still find a way in.
As Franklin Roosevelt’s vice president and a leading architect of the New Deal, Wallace had watched the Great Depression expose the costs of market concentration and financial manipulation. During World War II he sharpened his critique, especially in his 1944 writings on the danger of American fascism, where he described a synergy between monopoly capital and authoritarian politics. The danger, he argued, lies less in goose-stepping theatrics than in quiet forms of capture: lobbying that undermines antitrust enforcement, propaganda that smears reformers and labor as subversive, contract structures and patent thickets that close off avenues for newcomers, and control of credit, distribution, and media that tilts the field.
For Wallace, democracy is not only a ballot but a social commitment to fair chances. Small businesses, independent farmers, and inventors embody this ideal by keeping markets open and innovation alive. When monopolists succeed in insulating themselves, the economy ossifies and political life coarsens; citizens begin to experience democracy as a shell that protects insiders. Hence his insistence on robust antitrust, transparent regulation, and policies that diffuse opportunity rather than concentrate it.
The observation resonates in any era marked by rising concentration. Network effects, data advantages, and regulatory arbitrage can harden incumbency, tempting dominant firms to prefer governance that safeguards their moat over institutions that broaden opportunity. Wallace’s point is both economic and civic: guarding competitive markets and equal opportunity is a democratic task, because the health of self-government depends on whether outsiders can still find a way in.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
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