“The problem we currently face really comes down to government interference. In a truly free market people sell a product for what other people pay for it. The lower the price;the more one will sell (obviously for a product that is in demand). This is fine. People get what they want for the lowest price possible as the more enterprising people find ways to get it to market more efficiently and greedily grab a larger market share from their higher charging competitors.

However, the biggest flaw we face today is in the “free” government education. We live in a capitalistic constitutional republic. However, have you been taught all the laws of the land (even though ignorance of the law is no defense against breaking them….according to the law)? How much of an education do “we” receive about commerce, economics, and banking (considering these are the cornerstones of our society)? If people are not educated and wise to commerce, economics, banking, and the law they are ill prepared to not only function in a capitalistic society but equally incapable of acting as the checks-and-balance we are intended to be.

The reality is we are abused due to our ignorance. We are ignorant due to reliance on the government for our education. Despite overwhelming evidence proving that politicians are easily corrupted we continue to blindly trust them and the laws they create as being in “our” best interest.

Many politicians are bribed and/or already have special interest in creating laws that favour certain business, banks, or industries. Some industries like energy cost us more because of taxes levied to create more bureaucracy to oversee the favoured industries (in reality…once a agency has complete oversight over an industry it is streamlined and easy for that industry to bribe only those few with full legal authority to watch and regulate. If you produce automobiles you are not gonna bribe the FDA are you?) Sometimes subsidies are given to an industry like corn production. This allows that industry (corn) to charge much less than it’s competitors which hurts the competitors and pushes special interest. Sometimes some companies will have to pay more or less tax than others…..meaning some will not succeed in the long run as they need to calculate the taxes/extra taxes into their cost while their competition does not.

I could go on for thousands of pages but suffice to say: the problems we face are indeed due to greed but that in itself is a naturally existing part of the human condition. It would be foolish and irresponsible to not calculate it into any model of society or to make criminal/punish the people for simply being what they are (just as it would be morally wrong to punish someone for sexual preference, physical sex, pigmentation, or anything else that one may be due to natural selection). In a free market the greed of the seller (the want for as much money as possible) is balanced by the greed of the buyer (the want for as much/as nice of “stuff” as can be gotten for as little money as possible). Ultimately, both buyer and seller do not get what they greed for but what each is willing to settle on. Free market is mutual compromise for mutual gain. It is the corruption of our elected representatives in addition to the laws and bureaucracy they create that gives unfair advantage to some and not others. It is the people, through dependence on “free” education, that have become ill prepared to act as the check-and-balance necessary to keep the corruption of the state in check. Just as the greed of the buyer and seller are to keep each others greed in check; so is it that the greed of the governed(us) is meant in our system to keep in check the greed of those that govern us (elected officials).”

The above was a response from me to a facebook thread about capitalism. I will suffice to say that it wasn’t a free market friendly thread but there was some “common sense” intertwined and in particular one individual that was driving the thread by asking genuine questions questions. One curious mind is enough for me! As I have done so often in social media, comment sections, and emails when faced with an opportunity to educate on all things libertarian I jumped on the opportunity to do so with my usually random and rambling approach.

What is different here is I am exploring with this article repackaging my spontaneous opportunities to educate for what I hope will eventually become a larger audience. Plenty of times I am tripping over my own thoughts and proverbial tongue with what those who know me have heard me write-off as “Pennsylvania Dutch licensing”. However, from time to time, I do impress even myself (no easy feat) and it is those little gems I hope to convey for those willing to shovel through the……..enjoy.

Dave Moser
Chair
Site Administrator
York Co, PA Libertarian Party
dmoser@yorklp.org

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