Damn commie trolls.
Posted on 07/01/2005 12:46:19 AM PDT by truthagent
When can one justify the violation of the supremacy of private citizenry rights, be it to property or privacy, on behalf of economic interests? Does the "free market", the enigmatic "invisible hand", always know best? Do free market principles always apply, and if not, when do they not apply?
I'm convinced that free markets are a fiction and that there is no "invisible hand" anywhere other than in heaven, where god and angels reign and reside, exclusively. In the real world, businessmen are kept honest and able to serve the public by market forces, i.e. competition, supply and demand. When the supply is limited and the demand is virtually infinite, i.e. when there is no competition, free market principles do not apply, and therefore the invisible hand goes numb. Instead, monopolistic forces then are tempted to dominate: Uncompetitive price gouging, and without oversight and regulation, poor service if not outright exploitation of the consumer. Examples abound: Enron's gaming of California energy markets, US's privatized health care system (where HMO profits trump medical care quality & service), no-bid contract rewards for Iraq invasion to Halliburton (which gouges the taxpayer, exorbitantly), shoddy airline maintenance (while high-speed rail competition remains absent), etc... Market forces do act in some sectors, such as bagels and doughnuts, but only because adequate diversity and flexibiliy on the supply side permits competition, and consumers can choose. Where this is not possible, such as for infrastructure (energy pipelines, water supplies, roadways, railroads) and a variety of services (broadcasting, cable/satellite TV, mining, forestry,...) requiring limited public resources in the domain of land, air, space, electromagnetic spectrum, etc..., the nature and quality of competition is diminished as access to those resources cannot be guaranteed equitably, and inevitably inequitable processes impede to limit the quality and reliability of the service provided in those sectors. In other words, a corporation managing the private roadway connecting two towns can minimize roadway maintenance and charge arbitrarily high fees if alternative roads do not exist AND no laws coerce the management to maintain some standards, aka regulation. Regulation, however, requires public intervention, i.e. government... the invisible hand won't do it, as it prefers to maximize profits and minized effort; perhaps that's why it's invisible, as it prefers to be hidden in the pocket counting the dough instead of visible for all to see and hard at work... Note that multiple toll-roads connecting the same towns could provide competition, but they would be redundant and too limited in diversity to enable those desireable market forces... and how much eminent domain must the public tolerate merely to enable corporate competition? At what point is enough ENOUGH? Quality of life isn't enabled by competition alone, and some would argue it is diminished by competition: In well-mannered, civilized families, every family member is entitled to the same quantity of food at the dinner table, and all children are entitled similar educational and recreational opportunities, commensurate with aptitude, etc... this is understood as fair and equitable, while the opposite (priviledges for one child, not another) is not.
Laissez faire economics works sometimes, but usually government oversight is essential. Removing all regulations creates nothing short of a feudalistic society of a few haves dominating the have-not multitudes... an uncivilized outcome.
You logged on here to post this tripe?
I smell OZONE!
In before the ZOT!
Troll alert
Free Trade info here...
Mutualism is merely regurgitated Marxism.
Rotting Socialism with a new coat of paint.
Mutualism is just another name for Socialism.
This is why the coming together of the right and left was an ill formed idea. The left has no concern for private property rights. They only care about destroying capitalism and saw an opportunity to use our thunder.
Damn commie trolls.
An anti-Statist thread called out as being...Commie?
It's starting to smell bad in here.
Bye, Truthagent."He's dead, Jim!"
Please Freep mail me if you want ON or OFF my Viking Kitty/ZOT ping list!. . .don't be shy.
TTTTRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL!
Would State ownership of all property and means of production be any better? I believe it’s been tried – along with other economic systems. So far, the only system that works is free enterprise. Problems enter when governments get involved where they have no business being involved, as with the recent Eminent Domain ruling.
All your Invisible Hands ARE Belong to Us!!!!
ZOT!
PWND!
Coke or Pepsi?
post-ZOT review:
Well, at least such Zot-bait is posting their garbage here on FR, instead of engaging in necrophilia, which is probably their usual way to pass the time of day.
And funeral directors really hate that stuff.
I AM THE CONSPIRACY!
So now it becomes part of the toll road of life, right?
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