It’s been a remarkably busy day today, what with the holidays coming up, and all. One thing’s for certain: you will never find yourself with a lack of work as a web designer for a consumer product corporation around the holidays!
But I wanted to speak briefly about a particular theme of Republican and Conservative politics that deserves some exploration. This is also in relation to the theme of “Government as a Public Square” that I’ve been meaning to return to and haven’t.
The theme in question is that of government intrusion in the marketplace, as opposed to that vaunted “Invisible Hand” that magically makes good things happen in the absence of any other guiding force. That invisible hand is rarely discussed publicly by Conservatives, in favour of an epic mythology between “freedom” and “tyranny.” The freedom of markets, Conservatives patiently explain, allows people to make their own decisions about what they want and don’t want, which in turn drives demand, which in turn dictates what suppliers provide. This simple system can be employed to fix most any of society’s problems, from obesity to Global Warming (not that the first is really society’s problem, or that the second actually exists, mind you). The tyranny of government intrusion and rule-making upsets that natural balance and eliminates the decision making the people are born with the right to do.
While the existence of the “Invisible Hand” of supply and demand economics is not in question – while there is no question that the buying decisions of the mass of Americans does indeed affect the fortunes of manufacturers – to explain the system thus as freedom vs. tyranny is to present an over-simplified, false dichotomy.
Because while the decisions you and I make at the counter of the store does influence markets, it only influences markets to the extent that those setting the policy at manufacturing companies choose to allow it. Company policy ultimately decides what gets produced and what does not. In fact, they make a great many decisions, such as deciding what “The Next Big Thing” is, then spending millions on advertisement to convince you of it’s necessity. Or deciding which third-party, and possibly third-world, manufacturer to award subcontract work; each of those subcontractors – and their sub-subcontractors – has their own corporate policy which is once again further removed from the Invisible Hand’s reach.
So as it turns out, you see, there are rules out there in that Anarchist’s Utopia of the Free Market. Many, many rules at many different companies, very few of which you will have any direct control over. And when it turns out that there’s poison in your kid’s toy or disease in their Not So Happy Meal, it also turns out that the marketplace has it’s Invisible Thumb up its Invisible Ass.
So the question is: when it comes down to the rules that keep poison out of your food, keep pollutants out of your atmosphere and set the guidelines for educating your kid, where would you like those rules to be set? In the penthouse offices of an unspecified company? Or out in the public square, where we all have a say, however messy the process might be?
Interesting. And “invisible thumb” part was funny.
LOL, glad you liked it. It’s fun when you get to turn a phrase like that.