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Maybe it's time to realize that there is no such thing as a "free market," since unethical individuals will always attempt to maximize their positions through t

Maybe it's time to realize that there is no such thing as a "free market," since unethical individuals will always attempt to maximize their positions through their established power bases and political connections. The complaints about how "free markets" unfairly get blamed for market failures sounds exactly like communists bemoaning the fact that "pure communism" has never been tried in the real world, just corrupted versions of it.

Ygg2 13y ago
Heck you don't need political connection; even if there is no state there would be no free market. Corporations would simply fight over who owns most force and media. If you have ability to wield force and control the media you have made it.
forgottenpaswrd 13y ago
Not really, "free markets" are real, they exist. You find them in small villages all around the world, someone needs something that someone else has in abundance, they make a deal. I buy quality lentils, rice, milk, cows, ... this way, as I live in Europe. In the US you can't even buy natural milk, they have germs paranoia, and lots of big corps's interests. Any person on the village could sell you anything, without any control, and that works, believe it or not. A free market is as simple as a market that meets certain criteria, like existence of competition. Regulated markets use to destroy competition. In the US competition in healthcare is not so good in this regard, but don't tell any American, they believe they live in the best country in the world, specially those that had never lived abroad. You could argue that perfect "free markets" do not exist, like a perfect "cube" or "rectangle" or "sphere" do not either. And that is true, because in the end atoms are just discrete approximations of a perfect shape, but cubes are very useful as a reference.
- wavefunction 13y ago
  We can buy raw milk in the US, it's just a hassle. Sorry to burst your Euro-bubble.
  - Aloisius 13y ago
    I can buy raw milk in San Francisco by walking a half block to a small corner store, so, not even that much of a hassle.

Ygg2 13y ago

Heck you don't need political connection; even if there is no state there would be no free market. Corporations would simply fight over who owns most force and media. If you have ability to wield force and control the media you have made it.

forgottenpaswrd 13y ago

Not really, "free markets" are real, they exist. You find them in small villages all around the world, someone needs something that someone else has in abundance, they make a deal. I buy quality lentils, rice, milk, cows, ... this way, as I live in Europe. In the US you can't even buy natural milk, they have germs paranoia, and lots of big corps's interests. Any person on the village could sell you anything, without any control, and that works, believe it or not. A free market is as simple as a market that meets certain criteria, like existence of competition. Regulated markets use to destroy competition. In the US competition in healthcare is not so good in this regard, but don't tell any American, they believe they live in the best country in the world, specially those that had never lived abroad. You could argue that perfect "free markets" do not exist, like a perfect "cube" or "rectangle" or "sphere" do not either. And that is true, because in the end atoms are just discrete approximations of a perfect shape, but cubes are very useful as a reference.

wavefunction 13y ago
We can buy raw milk in the US, it's just a hassle. Sorry to burst your Euro-bubble.
- Aloisius 13y ago
  I can buy raw milk in San Francisco by walking a half block to a small corner store, so, not even that much of a hassle.