Before analyzing any proposal, argument or idea, you need a framework to filter the idea through. In religion, they call it doctrine and theology. Theologians know that demagogues can move people to believe anything given the right speaker, the right sermon and the right personal circumstances. This is why the Church Fathers worked for years distilling Christian doctrines into catechisms and confessions. They placed an emphasis on studying and memorizing these frameworks to protect their flocks from heresy.
In this Presidential election,
the risk of demagoguery is greater than ever!
Unlike religious denominations and churches, most people are not prepared with a mental framework through which to filter speeches, party platforms and glossy political advertising. Further, the emotional appeals of today's election rhetoric are amplified by $4.50 gas, Middle East conflicts, BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) rising as economic powers, food inflation, and on and on. These circumstances make it easy to fall prey to someone giving a great speech and offering to "help" you with bigger government "solutions"... a nanny-state.
Always remember the BIG LIE...
"I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."
A Framework To Organize Your Thinking
In 1962, Milton Friedman wrote his classic and groundbreaking work, Capitalism and Freedom, on the linkage between economics and freedom... hence the title.
Milton Friedman
- Nobel Laureate in Economics - 1976
- University of Chicago - Professor
- Hoover Institution - Sr. Research Fellow
I want to share a few important sections from this book in hopes that it will help you evaluate the policies and promises made by our presidential candidates.
Capitalism and Freedom
"It is widely believed that politics and economics are separate and largely unconnected; that individual freedom is a political problem and material welfare an economic problem; and that any kind of political arrangements can be combined with any kind of economic arrangements. The chief contemporary manifestation of this idea is the advocacy of "democratic socialism" by any who condemn out of hand the restrictions on individual freedom imposed by "totalitarian socialism... such a view is a delusion... only certain combinations of political and economic arrangements are possible."
"The kind of economic organization that provides economic freedom directly, namely, competitive capitalism, also promotes political freedom directly because it separates economic power from political power and in this way enables the one to offset the other."
"Fundamentally, there are only two ways of co-ordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion... The other is voluntary co-operation of individuals - the technique of the market place."
"Exchange can therefore bring about co-ordination without coercion."
"Political freedom means the absence of coercion of a man by his fellow man. The fundamental threat to freedom is power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, or a momentary majority."
"... the market eliminates this source of coercive power. It enables economic strength to be a check to political power rather than a reinforcement."
Don't Get Confused
The growth in the power and reach of government will always result in a reduction in all kinds of freedom, economic and otherwise. A true free market is the best system to improve prosperity for ourselves and future generations. It is also the best option for protecting all individual freedoms. What Obama offers, what Hillary was offering, and to a lesser degree what McCain is offering is a Faustian bargain... nothing more, nothing less.
Just remember the BIG LIE... "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."
Pick up a copy of Capitalism and Freedom.
Filter the rhetoric through a logical screen.
Notes:
There are a few great places to go to learn more about the freedom producing effects of free market economics.
- The Cato Institute
- The Club for Growth
- The Ludwig von Mises Instiute
I have links to all three to the left of this post. Byron Smith Blog
2 comments:
And yet, we see now that economists are seriously questioning a free market approach to the global economy, as the realities of a finite world come to bear on a human world of excessive consumption.
The unrealistic rhetoric of free market capitalism is simply another religion, based on dreams and hopes, not hard reality. Why would one trust free market capitalism any more than one trusts the Pope?
The only economy that has ever demonstrated long-term viability is locally organized bioregionalism in an anarchist decision-making framework. All centrally-organized economies are doomed to failure as central organization cannot accommodate local resource fluctuations and availability.
There is simply not enough energy available to maintain 6 billion+ human beings on this planet in an economy based on unlimited consumption.
Michael... thanks for stopping by. Please stop by and comment often. Exactly what economists and school of thought do you draw your comments from?
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