[DIRTYSECRET]

Very interesting article. Those that don’t partake in all the modern ‘conveniences’ will envy those that do. Next comes resentment.

The ‘most free’ people out there are homeless. A bird is free but must kill to survive. The different levels of ‘participation’ in this give and take is what freedom is. Still, the resentment will be out there because people and governments cannot mind their own business.

Why is ‘business’ the term used to describe activities having nothing to do with business?

[DIRTYSECRET]

The key in the title is Adam Smith. He of the invisible hand. People don’t know it exists. Some won’t even acknowledge it.

[ansel12]

I’ve lived more free than anyone I’m aware of, a lifestyle for years of drifter and years of living where I could literally stand up and walk out the door with the clothes I was wearing, no money, no identification, stick out a thumb and continue my life in other states and other places, sometimes wearing or carrying a jacket, and sometimes not.

[econjack]

It's actually more distorted in some cases. The Federal gov't underwrites insurance for homes that are in "flood-prone" areas, like the Outer Banks in NC. Keep in mind, the gov't "produces" nothing. The best it can do it redirect money (via taxes) from one (usually productive) area to another (often less productive) area (via gov't spending). Why are my tax dollars used to insure some rich person's vacation home on the coast? Will that person let me stay there for a week so I can recapture the benefits of my tax dollars? The gov't should not be in the insurance business. Those people with seaside homes should pay the full cost of insuring their homes, not the taxpayer. If you're willing to spend your money on a home that you know will eventually get whacked by a hurricane, that's should be your problem, not mine.