Comments on: the free market https://anarcholife.com/2008/09/01/the-free-market/ Libertarianism, distilled. Sat, 30 Dec 2023 00:19:05 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: zrated https://anarcholife.com/2008/09/01/the-free-market/#comment-63 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:25:03 +0000 https://anarcholife.com/2008/09/01/the-free-market/#comment-63 i would dispute that the claims you make, daniel, can be accurately labeled as “natural”. it is not natural in any way for one to drill for oil until it’s gone, only then to look for alternatives. if one owns a company based on oil production, only the most incompetent of management would have the lack of foresight to keep their businesses alive after their oil reserves had dried up. the market, as a self-regulating entity, creates strong incentives to avoid this type of behavior. although their are certainly those who might sell “harmful” products to the masses, it is the right of individuals to make the choices they see fit regardless of our opinions of those choices. i personally consider drug use to be “bad” whether it be alcohol or heroin, but i recognize the right of individuals to consume such products if they so choose. asserting that some have the right to force their opinions of such subjective ideas as “good” and “bad” on others is a rejection of equal rights theory and an endorsement of the hobbesian situation with all forcing opinions on all until the strongest and most brutal arises as the de facto government. there are also great incentives in the market to sell products to consumers at a high level of safety. it’s hard to maintain a business with a reputation for killing its customers because of negligence, not to mention that each one killed will no longer be patronizing the business. because, when dealing with humanity, things are going to sometimes be done unethically or immorally, does not mean that such behavior should be institutionalized in government. because government requires the violation of person and property, it defeats itself in purpose if the point is to protect person and property. widespread rights violation through government is never the answer to the problem of occasional rights violation on the free market.
it is the height of utopianism to suggest that centralized power be given to the power-mad elite of society (make no mistake these people will have control of government) and trust that they will restrict themselves from corruption and growth of government power. in the market, however, these people can only get and maintain what they have by providing the public with the products and services they desire at reasonable prices and safety levels. remember that there is always a hungry competitor waiting in the wings to poach the unsatisfied customers of “business a” when they begin to let standards slide.
government is the institutionalization and legalization of crime ( http://anarcholife.blogspot.com/2008/08/why-only-libertarians-consistently.html ). that is not, never has been or ever will be beneficial to a society.

]]> By: Anonymous https://anarcholife.com/2008/09/01/the-free-market/#comment-64 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:32:43 +0000 https://anarcholife.com/2008/09/01/the-free-market/#comment-64 The problem with the free market is the same as the problem with nature. Nature is ideal, but left alone it will harm humans. Bacteria are natural. Virii are natural.

It’s also natural to drill for oil until it runs out, and only then look for alternatives. It’s also natural to sell harmful products to the masses as long as they’re stupid enough to buy them.

These are natural, but they are not good for society. This is where the necessary evil of government comes into place. The issue at hand is how to keep that government small, transparent, and wielded by the people. We have to keep it from becoming its own purpose.

And in this task we have failed–hence the problems we have now.

So yes, libertarianism is good. But not to an extreme. Something like the FDA will always have to exist because the NATURAL way of doing things is to allow the rich and powerful to stomp on and take advantage of the poor and weak.

If that’s not the world you want to live in then you have to deal in the world of gray and subtle.

]]>