tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777766.post954565668526403841..comments2023-10-21T07:20:22.629-04:00Comments on Liberty Street: Disaster Capitalism and Democracy: Not Exactly Perfect TogetherKathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03849598751096484281noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777766.post-2548073034360418342007-12-05T08:46:00.000-05:002007-12-05T08:46:00.000-05:00Kathy, Actually I was specifically addressing your...Kathy, <BR/><BR/>Actually I was specifically addressing your closing comment that "Maybe an oligarchy is exactly what free market fanatics want," a statement that I believe is not true.<BR/><BR/>Your most recent response, while passionate, does not address <I>my</I> question of how you define a free market. I think you are confusing politics with economics. The examples you cite would not be considered free markets by any rational observer.<BR/><BR/>Free market economics are truly <I>free</I> and voluntary exchanges. They are the reason the standard of living of humanity has increased so dramatically. Look around you. Virtually everything you see – your PC, your furniture, the clothes you wear, the food you eat – is the result of your uncoerced decision to purchase them from suppliers who generally have no guarantee that anyone will do so. They have to make them attractive enough to survive the competitive process. That is a good thing!<BR/><BR/>Of course it is not a perfect system. Milton Friedman, who is trashed unfairly in Klein’s book, was above all things intellectually honest. He recognized the strengths and weaknesses of free markets (as well as alternative economics systems). To me that is an example to follow – to be intellectually honest enough to have a reasonable discussion.gator80https://www.blogger.com/profile/04138339854320723993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777766.post-42149519727495873882007-12-04T22:16:00.000-05:002007-12-04T22:16:00.000-05:00Gator, you addressed your initial comment as a res...Gator, you addressed your initial comment as a response specifically to my post on disaster capitalism, which involves taking advantage of catastrophic events like natural disasters and war to create markets and money-making opportunities for American corporate interests and investments on terms vastly more advantageous than they would be in less chaotic and tragic conditions, with people at their most vulnerable. <BR/><BR/>It's happening in Iraq right now. American investors and business interests get the most favorable terms and the most lucrative opportunities to make money off of a war that the U.S. started, and that has killed, directly and indirectly, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and turned 4.2 million Iraqis into refugees. It's not Iraqis getting those huge reconstruction projects; it's already wealthy Americans. Iraqis get the invasion and the death; Americans get the billions of dollars of profit. <BR/><BR/>And the reason the U.S. can negotiate such favorable terms for its corporate interests is because Maliki is so absolutely, abjectly *desperate* to keep U.S. troops in his country to babysit his government and keep it from being overthrown.<BR/><BR/>If that's not the worst kind of extortion and theft, I don't know what is.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03849598751096484281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777766.post-77938512461452919802007-12-04T21:54:00.000-05:002007-12-04T21:54:00.000-05:00I'm not sure what definition of "free market" you'...I'm not sure what definition of "free market" you're using. Mine does not involve getting something for nothing, nor does it involve stealing. If you don't even understand what proponents of free markets actually believe, how can you have an opinion as to whether they are desirable?gator80https://www.blogger.com/profile/04138339854320723993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777766.post-50849904434870039292007-12-04T21:30:00.000-05:002007-12-04T21:30:00.000-05:00Of course; why wouldn't they? Everyone wants somet...Of course; why wouldn't they? Everyone wants something for nothing. But taking something without paying for it is called stealing. And it upsets the people who are being stolen from.<BR/><BR/>The "free" market is only free for the people doing the stealing.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03849598751096484281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6777766.post-43841347478274707092007-12-04T14:15:00.000-05:002007-12-04T14:15:00.000-05:00Actually a free market is what the free market fan...Actually a free market is what the free market fanatics want.gator80https://www.blogger.com/profile/04138339854320723993noreply@blogger.com