[MD] Northrop and the failure of neo-conservative free market

[X Acto]

Great observation, applies to many of the topics.




________________________________
From: Krimel <Krimel at Krimel.com>
To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 9:10:59 AM
Subject: Re: [MD] Northrop and the failure of neo-conservative free market

[Arlo]
> the "market" has no bones about the buying and selling of human slaves 

[craig]
And a crowbar doesn't care if it's used for burglery. So what? The market is a tool. If you seek a voluntary 
exchange, the market matches you with the other half. That other people are using the market for slavery 
doesn't affect the morality of your voluntary action. That an exchange is voluntary doesn't mean it is moral. 
But that it is involuntary can mean that it is immoral.

[Krimel]
Isn't the point that the market itself is amoral. It is the rules that govern the market; that inject it with morality. Aren't any such rules a limitation on the freedom of the market? It is clearly the role of government to establish such rules in-so-far as they reflect the will of the people.

In fact in the hierarchy of social values free markets were pretty low on the totem pole until Raygun. We have economic collapse to show for his efforts. There is no doubt that an excess of righteous zeal can have a chilling effect on individual liberty. But it is foolish to claim that economics of any sort more sophisticated than trading beans for cows can proceed without governmental regulation. Even simple beans for cows trades result in the occasional dispute which require judicial involvement.

No, my friend the "free market" is a myth and always has been a myth. It is and has always been the role of society to set rules for the exchange of goods and services. We can argue the efficacy and justice of specific laws but the principle that allows for establishing them really isn't on the table.




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