BOB2 Wrote:
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> It is a legal principle on transport that evolved
> and was handed down from English Common Law, and
> the original "carriage of goods by sea acts".
> Which made shippers liable for losses, "lest they
> conspire with pirates...". And, created even more
> incentive for ship owners to buy insurance, which
> is why Lloyd's became rich... We, once upon a
> time, regulated commerce, so as to prevent
> monopolistic practices, like discriminatory
> pricing, and assure fair competitive markets under
> that concept.... Not so much, nowadays....

More cogently from a railroad history perspective, when railroads were chartered in the 19th Century it was with full expectations that railroads would accept all commerce offered to it, and of course this included passengers and that plow ordered from Sears. Somehow this essential social contract has been systematically undermined.