There always has to be a litmus test from the GOP: a test of everything Amurrkan.
Are you one of us, or are you a lousy commie pinko? Or perhaps you are not with us because you are with the turrists?
Of course now we are in a rare epoch where the litmus test of Amurrkan-ness, or the patriot v. pinhead (my apologies for evoking the image of Billo the Flying Fuck) ultimate test is on a purely domestic issue. How refreshing not to have to worry about my ties to commies or Muslims when I look in the mirror and ask myself, “Golly gee, am I really an American?”
Of course now I am preoccupied, nay, obsessed with being a loyal Amurrkan free-marketeer. Yes, the all-American free market is the new true blue test for us all: the ultimate reveal where a progressive’s patriotism either waves like a flag, or his/her love of baguettes and unprecedented government interference in medicare and other government programs dooms him/her to Gitmo for torture and re-education.
Was there ever really a free market? This ridiculous free market unicorn, drawn like a gun by the new GOP, evokes images of Dagny Taggart heading west on a train, following the trail of Dan’l Boone and Lewis and Clark; the rugged individual, asking no quarter, and giving nothing of oneself. She exists only to pursue her own self-interest: presumably to grow her small business and call herself a job creator! Ahh yes, to be a job creator! The ultimate title; now listed just below plain old “CREATOR” in the GOP lexicon under gradations of relative Amurrkanism.
I find it funny that Adam Smith, author of “The Wealth of Nations” and the theory of the invisible hand of the market, is never evoked by the GOP. Perhaps this is why:
Here are 3 gems from Adam Smith, the godfather of the free market, writing in “The Wealth of Nations”:
Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.
What improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconveniency to the whole. No society can surely be flourishing and happy of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.
The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.
Wow, even Adam Smith understood the concept!
To call the market a truly free market, is to call water non-conductive: solely based on a theoretical construct. Next time Paul Ryan’s basement is flooded, I’d like to see him test this theory by standing in the puddle and changing a light bulb. He would find the real world does not work according to the text book.
The Russians and Chinese are experiencing their nascent Capitalism right now, as new entrepreneurs swarm their new opportunities and open up new markets, free of pesky regulation! We had already been through this in our own country and economy generations ago, back when plaster of paris was baked into our bread, and an American child could work 16 hours without a break and sever his finger into a can of beans for his efforts. Certainly, baking standards, child labor laws, general labor laws, health department manufacturing standards, and OSHA regulations were necessary consequences of such egregious practices.
Meanwhile, many Chinese entrepreneurs in search of the almighty yen, are manufacturing drywall with formaldehyde, and boosting protein levels of baby formula with poison. Mikhail Prokhorov, the Russkie billionaire Nets-owner laid waste to entire towns for forever-and-a-half-life….but by god, he is a great businessman!!!
Where will their societies take this Capitalism, given their histories?
I feel one can argue that, in our own country, there truly is a free market, and that market developed in this country over a century ago. The natural lifecycle of this market will encompass phases of labor laws, govt regulations, unions, and everything else the Republicans point to as being antithetical to the operation of a free market. But much like climate science, where those same Republicans will scream that we do not know how long climate cycles last, how the fuck do they know how long an economic cycle lasts? Perhaps we are in the middle of a 500 year free market cycle, and government interference, regulations, labor laws, safety standards, pricing floors and subsidies, and of course labor unions, are all part of this great free market cycle.
Under this scenario, the original kings of industrialism back in 1900, thinking only of their own profits, touched off the eventual and necessary backlash.
So either the free market is a myth like the unicorn that lays golden eggs, or we are in the middle of a giant free market cycle, with its consequential labor and governmental reactions to the inherent brutality that comes with everyone acting in their own self-interest.
No matter the explanation, it is important to remember that it is not just job creators that act in their own self-interest, but ALL OF US! Why should a worker, who merely clocks in and labors for a job creator, not also look out for himself, and join a union, or refuse to be killed for his boss’ profits?
Certainly we can all function in a society where we strive to get ahead and look out for our own interests. As long as that is not all we ever do. Morality, humanity and common sense still exist, and they certainly have a place in our country. It’s not that hard to figure out how Capitalism can work.