Quote:
Quote by: MplsBison  So you are using a non standard definition for free
market.
Well I am using the definition that if a market
is free of government regulation it is called a "free
market". |
But using non-standard semantics was necessary; we don't have a free market system and, at least to my knowledge, regulation is needed for a capitalist society to have some semblance of stability. Hence, I often use the term "state-capitalism," which seems reasonable enough. Quite often, markets are unwilling to clean up their own messes, or they lobby to get special perks from the government -- as anyone might predict regarding an authoritarian, elitist, "dog-eat-dog" culture such as ours.
Does the alleged "free market" entail freedom, as the Libertarian Party suggests? Not really. The most libertarian parts of their platform doesn't necessarily have anything to do with capitalist economics.
Consider this from the 1996 Libertarian party Platform:
"We regard the tragedies caused by unplanned, unwanted pregnancies to be
aggravated, if not created, by government policies of censorship,
restriction, regulation, and prohibition. Therefore, we call for the repeal
of all laws that restrict anyone, including children, from engaging in
voluntary exchanges of goods, services, or information regarding human
sexuality, reproduction, birth control, or related medical or biological
technologies."
Notice how capital needn't be a part of any of this. If the "Libertarians" included the smallprint about needing money for all of these things (which they no doubt support), it's convolute things and have many scratching their heads. We might ask, for example, how unplanned, unwanted pregnancies are going to be prevented if money is at issue. We might ask how 'voluntary" and exchange of goods is when the banks legally dominate resources and monopolistic tendencies exist which place people at teh mercy of those with economic power. If people must pay for all their goods, services, or information -- as capitalism certainly encourages -- it's not quite as liberating as they'd have us think. But the "Libertarian Party" seeks to establish sort of a capitalist Priesthood, the gatekeepers of profit-hungry society. And, as if capitalists were Kings, we'd have to pay tribute if anything is to be accomplished, much like the system is now and much like Feudalism was. On a related note, some "Libertarians" even talk about establishing private police forces, as if guns-for-hire are somehow inherently more just than current police forces that could, at least in theory, be held accountable for misconduct.
Grandpa h.