I’ve quit counting the complaints I heard from the left about “unfettered capitalism” in the past couple of weeks. In an interview with Republican Whip Eric Cantor, a talking head inferred that “unfettered capitalism” underpins our current economic woes and the government should do something about it. To my dismay, Rep. Cantor did not challenge the premise, but seemed to suggest that Obama’s approach to reigning in capitalism was “massive” while the Republicans prefer a more “incremental” (his choice of words) approach. I just didn’t hear the clear, passionate defense of liberty and free markets I was hoping for.<\/p>\n
References to “unfettered” or “unbridled” capitalism suggest that free markets are OK, but only to a point. Because reasonable people are supposed to reject anything in the extreme, using the term shifts the debate from whether or not government intervention is justified to how much is appropriate.\u00a0 It’s like the proverbial question, “When did you stop beating your wife?” If you try to answer the question without challenging the premise, you’ve already lost the argument.<\/p>\n
When I am confronted with the term, I demand an immediate definition. If there is a hesitation, I point out that “unfettered” literally means “unchained.” If capitalism is the foundation for economic development, then why would you want to chain it? The response I get inevitably includes a justification of limits on liberty and arguments for wealth redistribution, with most or all of the sacrifices borne by someone else, namely the evil capitalist. Government is presumed to be the fair and just arbiter, ensuring that unskilled workers “forced” to work for low wages end up getting what is rightfully theirs through manipulation of the tax code or other leftist schemes. In other words, my opponent finds himself defending the merits of socialism. I not only win the argument with relative ease, but I also have an opportunity to help by opponent see the folly of his worldview.<\/p>\n
Moreover, capitalism in the U.S. is already heavily shackled, with severe restrictions on production, pricing, employment, minimum wages, unions and the like. Arguably the most regulated industry in the country is financial services. If one is looking for a quick culprit in the mortgage crisis, it seems logical to look at the government first, not the banks. Those on the left fail to see this.<\/p>\n
As we get closer to election time, my concern is that Republican candidates\u2014the ostensible defenders of liberty and freedom\u2014are either unable or unwilling to defend liberty, free markets, and the Constitution. Libertarians have always claimed that the main difference between the two major parties is one of degree. They charge that Republicans may be less socialistic than the Democrats, but they still suffer from the same mindset.<\/p>\n
I’ve part Libertarian and I think this argument is valid in many instance. I’m also seeing a similar defenseless pattern on other issues as well. For example, the use of the term “undocumented worker” suggests that an illegal immigrant is merely lacking the appropriate paperwork; if so, a “pathway to citizenship” only seems reasonable. Amnesty for illegals is simply wrong, and candidates who seek some sort or middle ground and refuse to acknowledge this either lack courage or conviction. I’m not sure which is worse.<\/p>\n
The reality is there’s little room for negotiation with collectivists like the likes of Obama and Pelosi on most issues. I am hopeful that the Republicans will do well in November and that they will engage Obama in the kind of tooth-and-nail battles that are sorely needed. I still fear the prospects of mass compromise (i.e., semi-socialism) should Republicans regain the House. I hope I’m just paranoid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve quit counting the complaints I heard from the left about “unfettered capitalism” in the past couple of weeks. In an interview with Republican Whip Eric Cantor, a talking head inferred that “unfettered capitalism” underpins our current economic woes and the government should do something about it. To my dismay, Rep. Cantor did not challenge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battle4liberty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}