Problems With A Free Market & No Government

I guess I find most Libertarians too idealistic and naive. They really make the assumption that all people are good and honest and have good intentions at heart. Even when it comes to big corporations whose only concern is their bottom line and their share of the market.

I am going to propose that MOST people are self-serving, manipulative and only care about themselves and their immediate loved ones. It’s their survival and interests they have at heart; not the good of everyone. I am also going to propose that consumers can only effect the market IF (and that’s a big if) there are competitors in the market. I also propose that there will be single corporations controlling certain resources and therefore there would be no competition and it will be that the corporation can do whatever it wants and if the consumer wants the resource, they will have no choice but to do what that corporation says.

All of that said, here is my top 5 CON list for why a free market (with no governmental involvement or regulation) is kind of a bad idea given that people are greedy and selfish (they won’t admit it, but they are).

1. Getting rid of welfare and such creates more poor people. More poor people = more crime. This is a fact.

2. Privatizing police forces allows for abuses toward the general public. It also means police forces can be bought and sold. More corruption. (Of course we have corruption already, but not to the extent it would flourish without any oversight.)

3. Getting rid of public education means most normal people won’t be able to afford to educate their children and therefore their kids will grow up without any chance for a future except poverty and likely turn to a life of crime.

4. Big corporations will be able to do what they want with no regulations (including stomping out any competition). They’ll be free to destroy the environment and will be able to pick and choose who gets resources and who doesn’t based on who cooperates with them and who doesn’t.

5. Some people, in order to feed their families, will do whatever they have to do (like helping corporations silence those who dissent) even if it’s ethically and morally wrong.

I haven’t even mentioned that without regulation they could sell you drywall in capsules and call it medicine. Your food could contain whatever they want to put in it and not list ingredients. They could use whatever pesticides they want on your food with no regulation. Your paint could contain lead.  All of the safeties we currently enjoy due to governmental regulation would be a thing of the past. Caveat Emptor my friends!

Now on the pro side (which is actually a con – please know I’m being sarcastic) this might be an effective method of population control because millions of seniors will like die sooner (with no health care) and a lot more poor people will probably die faster from starvation and sickness, thus decreasing the world population.

I’m not so sure this is the world I want to live in, but this is exactly where it looks like we’re heading.