grimmeissen
Administrator
Join Date: 1/14/2004
Posts: 1217
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Posted: 8/29/2008 8:31:51 AM
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Last night at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama made his case for becoming the President of the United States. He took shots at the Republicans and issued his plans for bringing "change" to the US government. One of the clips that I continue to see aired on television news networks is one where he discussed the failure of the free market in helping the middle and lower classes. He pushed the message that Republicans have forgotten about taking care of those on the lower end of the economy. He said that the Republicans have told people who grew up in poverty or are struggling with health care that "you are on your own."
Obama is correct that the Republicans have misled people about the free markets, but he is not correct in stating that the markets have failed. The Republicans have misled citizens by telling them that they will allow the markets to work. Instead, rather than the markets failing the lower classes, the Republicans have failed to stay out of the markets. Obama's answer to this failure is to get government involved some more.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" in the Declaration of Independence, notice that he did not say the "guarantee of happiness." The founding fathers envisioned a country where every effort would be made to allow people to pursue their dreams, with minimal involvement from the government. They had personally seen the wrongs that government could bring--taxing their production in the colonies with no representation to allow them to decide where those taxes would be used. They never envisioned a country where everyone would achieve ultimate happiness. They merely promised to provide protection of your life and freedom to seek that happiness yourself.
Ever since FDR began his campaign for a "New Deal" in the 1930's, the federal government has continuously worked against our pursuit of happiness. They have done it in the name of guaranteeing said happiness, but their inefficiency and inability to recognize the power of free markets has led them to fail time and time again. They have promised full employment and control of prices, yet their socialist agenda has achieved the opposite effect. Minimum wage laws, high payroll taxes, and welfare systems have priced a large chunk of the population out of the jobs that they qualify for. In the meantime, illegal immigrants and outsourced labor from overseas have filled the void, accepting jobs that Americans are "too good" for.
Illegal immigrants are an interesting example. They have not been promised any benefits from the government; in fact, the government is actively working against them. However, they have seen opportunity within the free market to pursue happiness--sometimes sacrificing their lives to achieve it. They risk everything to come into this country, accepting the jobs that minimum wage, taxes, and welfare have guaranteed Americans will not take. With hard work and dedication, they are usually able to make a better life for themselves here than they would have had in their home country. They are direct proof that without any government help and with a little ambition, this country can still provide the opportunity to pursue happiness.
The markets have not failed people; governments have failed to allow the markets to work. The Democrats have secured votes by making never-ending promises to the low and middle classes. The Republicans have secured theirs by making promises to businesses and the wealthy. Neither party is correct with their agenda. The proper action would be to step out of the way, guarantee the three inalienable rights, and let the people decide if they are going to achieve the happiness or not. To achieve these ends, the government must put the power back in the hands of the people. The market is the people.
Throughout the history of this country, politicians have continuously blamed free markets for troubles in the economy. When the Great Depression occurred, FDR justified his massive upsizing of the government by saying that the markets had failed us. What he didn't explain was that the markets failed because government failed. Most economists will admit that the Federal Reserve (a government institution) and its monetary policy had a great deal in creating a depression from a recession, but the solution was to put ever more power in the hands of the government. In today's economic troubles, the markets have been blamed again. In reality, devaluing of the dollar and a rapid increase in government debt is mostly to blame for our ever-rising prices and the need for Americans to take on massive debt loads just to have the opportunity to pursue their happiness.
Forget about the government coming to save you when times get tough. The government was mostly the reason times got tough anyway. Start telling both parties to quit making veiled promises and just tell them to get out of our way. With what Adam Smith described as "the invisible hand" of free markets, we will have a much better chance to secure the only three things that our Founding Fathers promised--life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
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