WHAT FREE MARKET?

I'm getting tired of these "free market" acolytes that seem to be all to willing to defend markets that aren't free. Judge Napolitano is right when he says that the root of the problem is our indebtedness and if we hadn't allowed ourselves to get into this shape than we wouldn't have a problem. But that doesn't change the reality that we aren't insisting that China compete with us on a just and moral basis, in a truly free market.

And other "free market" heroes like Trump are no better. The interview that Cavuto refers to in this video occurred earlier in the show when Trump insisted that we tax Chinese goods to make the playing field even while also admitting that he buys the majority of his building materials from China because of price.

The reality is that we cannot compete against slave labor without becoming slaves ourselves. The free market does not function by it's own set of Darwinian rules, the cheapest or most ruthless besting all the others, though thats what the "free market" apologists that we always see trotted out on TV and radio would have us believe. To function properly the actors in a free market must be free. How does slave labor fit into that?

The thing we call the "free market" today is anything but. The means of production are held in the hands of the few, whether they be states, banks or corporations. This "free market" is divided into two parts, capital and labor. Capital reaps the profits while labor serves the purpose of powering the machinery of the "free market", living on the scraps from the table and using those meager earnings to feed the debt machine created by those that control the capital and the means of production.

The people have lost their value to society because they've lost the means and the skills to produce. Unless one has a trade or profession that allows them to take raw materials from nature and produce something with inherent value they have no true productive capacity. And they become interchangeable and replaceable, held captive by the whims of the state or the corporation.

And this is the condition in which America finds itself as country. We decided to become an economy built on financial and service industries, creating nothing, hoping to be able to just sit back and skim our cut off the productive capacity of the Third World. Now, look what's happened to us. The Third World has produced and manufactured its way into the First while we've serviced our way into a quick stop in the Second World on our way to the bottom.

The fact is that we either have to grow it, mine it or drill it and then produce something needed from the materials we get from nature to create real wealth. Anything beyond that is just moving money around creating wealth that is an illusion. And it's because, as a country, America refuses to accept this simple truth that we find ourselves headed towards collapse as we beg the Third World to lend us just a bit more money, real money generated from productive activity, not the illusory kind that the Fed is creating as fast as it can.

But all the guys on Fox Business and at the Wall Street Journal would disagree. Of course, they make their money from non-productive activity, shuffling numbers on spreadsheets and demanding a percentage for their "work".

And as far as a tariff on goods produced in China, I say bring it on. Make them compete on a level field with no benefit from their slave labor and poison materials and every other evil they're more than happy to indulge in to gain the upper hand. Maybe then we'll see producers return to America. And maybe we'll see all the restrictions against productive activities such as mining and drilling be relaxed enough that we can remain safe but still be able to exploit the resources that God has given us to use. Maybe we can reopen the steel mills, lumber mills and refineries and along with that create real jobs based on real productive activity creating real wealth.

And maybe while we're relaxing those regulations we could do away with all the laws and regulations that have been passed over the years to benefit the big corporations at the expense of the little guy. The laws that have made it nearly impossible for the guy in his garage with the great idea to get his product to market. Maybe we could get rid of the collusive activities between corporations and government that insure that the means of production remain in the hands of the few. Maybe we can go back to the ideals of free enterprise and creativity that made this such a great and productive country a long time ago.

And then maybe we'll have a truly free market to compete in.