July 3, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Free Market Ideologues Think The Economy Is Caged Lion That Will Be Set Free When Government Gets Out Of The Way
I ask free market ideologues, is that the best you’ve got? So you’re saying all we need to do is release the caged lion that represents a booming economy? You are saying all we need to do is get government off the back of corporations? You are saying if we deregulate industries even more and get government out-of-the-way this caged lion would roar and we all will prosper? Really? This is what you are saying? You are saying that in fact there really is nothing to do at all, well, except get out-of-the-way? So we should elect Mitt Romney as our next president and then watch him get out-of-the-way and the country will prosper? Is this about right? Are you an adult? Is this really how your brain works?
I ask anyone who is not a free market ideologue but who may have sympathies for these ideas, does this really sound plausible to you? Do you really think the reason the economy isn’t doing better is because businesses are contrained by government? Do you really think in the aftermath of the worst recession since the Great Depression that the answer to our economic woes is to further deregulate the financial industry, the same industry responsible for this mess in the first place?
I know I’m asking a lot of questions, but I’m both curious and perplexed. I don’t understand how free market economics is still considered mainstream when we see the mess it has caused. Why is this still acceptable mainstream thinking? More importantly, why does anyone believe free market economics is the key to building a strong middle class?
I hate to break it to you, but a middle class doesn’t come about from free market economics. If you leave it to the market, there will be a group of super-wealthy oligarchs running the show and the rest of the country will continue to struggle to get by, or worse. A middle class is ONLY created out of government policy. The market does not create a middle class. Through the history of the human species the idea of a middle class is foreign until recent history, within the past 100 years. Before that it was powerful and wealthy elites running the show and the rest were scraping by. Does this sound familiar? This is where we are heading, in fact this is to large extent where we find ourselves again, and it’s only going to get worse if we continue to listen to free market ideologues like Mitt Romney and just about the entire Republican Party.
This is not meant as a resounding endorsement of the Democratic Party because unfortunately we have only two parties in this country and both subscribe to free market economics. But one party is punch-drunk on the Kool-Aid while the other party at least has a few sober members. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders comes to mind, although he’s not even technically a Democrat, so maybe that further illustrates the point.
So what will it be? Who are you voting for in November? Elections matter people. Even if you are a “severe” liberal (to twist Romney’s words) you better think twice before you decide to sit this election out because you aren’t satisfied with President Obama.
dks
