While it’s appropriate and fitting to remember our war dead on Memorial Day, the day also points to one legitimate function of government: providing collective self-defense so that we can interact with each other in free markets.
Through providing for self-defense, governments, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, help us secure our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Free from external threats, we can engage in commerce of all sorts, participate in free association with others, and worship and think of external threats. We tend to not think much about the benefits this protection offers us, because, September 11, 2001 aside, we haven’t suffered from military (or military-like) action from outside interests since the War of 1812. Go to other parts of the world where armed hostilities from outsides threaten peaceful society (the Middle East is a prime example though far from the only one), and you begin to remember again the value of a government that is effective at carrying out its first fundamental duty: Protection from organized, armed, external threats.
It’s easy to focus on the ways in which our own governments threaten our God-given rights in ways small and large, and that’s important. But it’s also important, especially on national holidays such as Memorial Day, to remember that government has an important role in keeping us free.
I do not understand why most free market advocates are not up in arms over our markets and industries being taken over and controlled by a small group of firms in many of our industries. The founder of the concept of free markets said:
‘People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public or in some contrivance to raise prices” (Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776)
The quote below is from the book Capitalism and Freedom written by Milton and Rose Friedman. Dr. Friedman is the economist who is quoted most often when conservatives are praising free markets and capitalism.
“But we cannot rely on custom or conscious alone to interpret and enforce the rules; we need an umpire.These then are the basic role of government in a free society; to provide a means where we can modify rules, to mediate differences among us on the meaning of rules, and to enforce compliance with the rules on the part of those few who otherwise would not play the game.”
For whatever reason, this part of Dr. Friedman’s philosophy is never mentioned when it comes to making “free markets” work.
Lack of freedom in the markets corrupts markets. It makes them inefficient. This lack of freedom causes prices to rise, less innovation, egregious salaries at the top and skewed income distribution, less competitiveness in markets and last but not least, consolidation of political power.
God bless America and mountain biking. http://freeourfreemarkets.org
OK, so other than getting some link love for your web site, what do you propose? I infer two things: a vigorous anti-trust policy, and “campaign finance reform.”
I like both of your ideas. How can we work togather to make this happen. I look forward to working with you. You state it so clearly.