You say that corporation as well as individuals are free. You then proceed to say that corporations do not have to be loyal. Do individuals have to be loyal? Do individuals who seek to make a profit benefit all without realizing it ALL THE TIME? Does the US defense contractor who sells its secrets to China or Iran get pass? Does someone who decides to start a child pornography business get a pass because they are “creating new jobs” and “lowering unemployment”?
I use these examples to prove a point no person (and no business) operates in a vacuum (a.k.a. independant of other moral considerations). If one gives businesses a pass to do what ever they want under the delusion that their profit-seeking will broadly benefit all, then they are proceeding under a short-sighted, cult-like mentality.
There is no doubt that a market oriented economy is superior to a command economy, but that is a far cry from letting business RULE and do whatever they want under the assumption that everyone is always better off no matter what the business does.
If recent years have taught us anything, it is NOT that government is the enemy, but rather government under the control of the wrong people is the enemy. Trump’s protectionist policies (including the Wall to prevent illegal immigrations) are government policies. Those policies are certainly not “leaving things to the free market”. It would be different if these businesses respected US sovereignty, workers, political speech, and traditional values....but they don’t. Are we gonna sell our souls to the market so that we can get the next generation iphone? A better processed, frozen dinner? A softer pair of socks?
Re-read what I wrote there, Bishop. I said ASIDE from limitations of military concerns which of course includes military contractors.
Because of a deliberate lack of education and training, many are without a basic understanding of freedom vs. government.
Freedom requires faith in God. An absence of faith in God creates a vacuum that is filled with trust in man and his government (the worldwide spiritual pandemic that began around 1900).
Just as spiritually grace and the law are polar opposites (Romans 11:6), so politically freedom and government are mutually exclusive. The very definition of (political) freedom is the absence of government interference and coercion. The more government and laws, the less freedom.
Government works by force and coercion, whereas the Free Market works by the voluntary cooperation between buyers and sellers - freedom in action.
As our inspired founding document, the Declaration of Independence [FROM GOVERNMENT TYRANNY] says, freedom (liberty) is every individual’s God-given right and NO ONE has the right to abridge another’s freedom without just cause.
So where does true constitutional government come in? The only legitimate purpose of the FEDERAL government is basically to PROTECT our God-given freedom mainly from invasion without (U.S. Const., Art. IV, Sec 4). What about wrongdoing within? Other than crimes by federal government officials, protecting individuals from wrongful abridging of individuals’ freedoms is up to the people of each STATE government, constitution, and laws.
Within this framework of limited and localized government, the marketplace free from government interference thrives and so does the society. And before you say this is not factual realty, what I’ve described was America in the 1800’s. This is reality. What we have now is a gross perversion of what America was and needs to be again - a Free Constitutional Republic.
So what about this “crony capitalism” fiction? Again, business must profit to survive so if government going to give them hand outs, a business would be stupid not to take it. Nothing necessarily wrong with business doing that. But government handing out and taking bribes is another story. That is expressly forbidden in the Constitution. So all this “subsidy” and lobbying (bribes) are criminal on the government side, not the free enterprise side. So it’s Crony GOVERNMENT, not “crony capitalism”.
Of course there should be laws that protect against child pornography and the like. You use extreme examples to argue against freedom in favor of government tyranny.
But what has FEDERAL government tyranny (defined as unconstitutional government laws and acts) brought us?
- The withdrawal of Bibles and prayer in schools.
- The elimination of teaching the Constitution and Declaration of Independence which frames the Constitution.
- Forced integration.
- Overturning state anti-abortion laws leading to the massive and bloody infanticide of the murder of tens if not hundreds of unborn
- Special political “rights” for sodomites and the like.
The list goes on and on. A Parade of Horrible brought to you by the government you say is not your enemy.
The fact is government is a potential evil necessary for narrow purposes mainly to protect from outside invasion. The Federal Government was created by the Constitution to be a wolf that guards the henhouse (America, her people, and her freedoms). The Constitution is the wolf’s chain. If the wolf chews off its chain, as the feds have, then the hens are in grave danger from the very wolf who is supposed to protect them.