Not So Free Market

i found this quote and i’m really not sure if Mills actually said it…but i like it. 

“There are no natural laws that explain the distribution of wealth. If the distribution of wealth is man made, then it can be changed by man.” John Stuart Mills

Why is it that middle class people are taught to hate poor people, think they are lazy and don’t work? Why do they think it is solely the poor’s responsibility for failing to be comfortable financially?

 Why is it that the sinking middle class believe that if they had only worked harder, invested more and better, taken fewer vacations they would be sitting pretty? Why is it they never questioned their salaries, their bonuses, or how their particular job was valued by society? Why is it that some in society are paid astronomically and others are paid a mere pittance?

According to US census data from 2010 35% of the work force earns less than $25,000/year, 36% of the work force earns between $25,000 and $50,000. So together 66% of the work force makes less than $50,000/year.

66% keep that number in your head.

Why is it that making 300 times more than the lowest paid employee is acceptable? Why don't poor people get a million dollar bonus when they work hard all week and make profits for their companies?

Blaming the poor is a whole lot easier to do than really examining everybody’s worth, real worth, based upon wages, salary or yearly income. Why are so many people paid so little?

The “Not So Free Market” does not guarantee freedom for everyone. Part of the problem is that a true "Free Market" has never existed.  If the definition of a “Not So Free Market” is two individuals entering into a contract for the exchange of goods while each have at their disposal all the pertinent information necessary to complete the deal. Isn’t it obvious that this can never be the case because no one can ever have all the information they need. Most participants in an exchange seek an advantage where the transaction entered into is on their own terms. 

Pure “Not so Free Marketers” believe in unfettered capitalism without ever considering that the super-rich will not ever at some point in the future decide they have enough money and power. Plundering of all earths resources must be contemplated in terms of the “Not So Free Market” as a very real problem for human survival. The idea that continued growth is beneficial needs to be reconsidered.  Earth is finite and continued depletion will come to an end. Only through regulation can we can curb the trend to use up every available resource.

The mantra “Trust the Free Market” has been a rallying cry for many on the right…unfortunately it has failed to lessen inequality.  In fact the loosening of regulations has made inequality worse. Instead, since the 1980’s we have seen a steady trickle up of money rather than a steady trickle down. In 2012 the gap between the richest 1% and the other 99% has been the greatest since the 1920’s.

“I don’t think the free market is guided by human decency anymore than it is guided by human selfishness. I think it is guided by the bottom line(profits), which typically reinforces the selfish tendency in human beings. I think It takes human decency to prevent that bottom line from becoming the only measure for success or failure in society.”Ben

Artificial restrictions that were placed on society were not an aspect of the “Not So Free Market”…if the market had had its way workers would not have weekends off, eight hour days, employer health insurance or paid vacations. The "Not So Free Market" didn’t solve those problems, it was the workers that demanded it. Unfortunately today workers have been voting against their best interests and have given away a lot of their gains. The "Not So Free Market" won’t give them more money for hard work all it will do is demand that they work even more. The only ones who can manipulate the "Not So Free Market" are those with a lot of money. They can use their power and money to change the system in ways that benefit them.

“The history of unregulated capitalism is filled with unspeakable horror: vast inequality, robber barons, child labor, sweatshops, senior citizens starving to death, company towns, filth in our food and air and waterways, deadly medicine and union busting thugs, depressions and recessions.”Jonathan Brown 

Without government intervention these would still be our reality. Government regulation and taming the market is what has kept capitalism from imploding. 

Markets are always socially constructed, they are never “free”. They can’t exist with out government, judges, lawyers and police to ensure that contracts are enforceable, copyrights are adhered to, theft is prosecuted etc.,etc.,etc.

i don’t want to be called anti-capitalist. i’m not motivated by envy or anger towards the rich…what motivates me is a leveling of the playing field. Extreme inequality in wealth is not the product of merit or hard work…i know a lot of poor people that work really hard…and i know a lot of rich people that just invest. Inequality can be found just by studying the wages paid to the bulk of society.

Wanting to fix inequality doesn’t make me a Marxist or a Socialist, it makes me a realist. Wanting to fix something doesn’t mean discarding everything and starting fresh. It means tweaking it. i like regulations, there is nothing wrong with checks and balances. We need government…and we need more money to start trickling down instead of up. 

“There’s class warfare, all right, but its my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Warren Buffet

See ya next week