More on Neoliberalism

Those who conflate libertarianism, or classical liberalism, with neoliberalism do so out of ignorance or out of a desire to obscure the distinction between free market/limited government principles and government/corporate enmeshment among power-mongers. Libertarian thought has never claimed that business people act honorably -- crooks can go into business. Libertarians, at least the libertarians associated with the Right, promote limited government, a separation of State and Economy. This doesn't mean regulatory capture, or no regulation. Regulation can take place in a free market without government intervention, except law and court intervention to punish fraud, theft and coercive abuse of power. The problem with statist regulation is that it has favored large corporations which can pay for the cost of compliance, whereas small businesses can't. There is also the problem of lobbying and regulatory capture in the present statist system. Government has become a feeding trough where wealthy interests come to get fed, Business/government arrangements attract the most unscrupulous people in society to play the hardball political game.

Our present government/corporate enmeshment is caused by a government which has gone beyond limitations and now manages the economy, except for small areas of commerce of little concern to the power mongers,i.e., the crumbs of the economy. With a limited government separated from the economy, government officials cannot sell or trade favors, because it won't have the power to do so. As I've said before, our problem is the battle over power, not wealth accumulation. In another post, I will once again write about how a free market can be regulated in the private sector.

Most people who make a lot of money realize they have enough at some point, and making more is not exciting -- what becomes exciting is power. When wealthy individuals with a power-hunger tendency can buy power, this is when we have problems of great wealth inequality. In a free market, there will be individuals who generate lots of wealth, but without power for sell, the game will change and extra wealth will be re-invested in the economy rather than spent to amass power and protection from competition. Most wealthy people also have a lot of creative energy, and if that energy can be channelled into charity or philanthropic efforts, this would be a much more useful to society than amassing power. A limited government and a free market will cut off avenues of power-seeking, and redirect energy over time to productive use. Many businesses get caught up in the Washington statist, power game simply because they have to play the game to survive and be competitive. If the corporate feeding trough is destroyed, these business people will direct their interests elsewhere.

Free competition will prevent those determined to gain power from creating coercive monopolies, and competiton will also place limits on how much wealth can be amassed. When a certain product or service becomes popular with consumers, other players will enter the game, thus spreading the wealth. The Left says these ideas have been discredited, but, to be honest, these ideas have never been fully implemented. Whatever Neoliberalism is, it's not libertarianism.

The Mid-East, Terrorism and Oil

For a good historical account of our involvement in the Mid-East, read Michael B. Oren's book, Power, Faith and Fantasy -- it's a history of America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present. We have certainly been involved in the Mid-East long enough to know better. Secretary Gates was right -- we should have our heads examined. An examination might find that we're in the Mid-East to make sure that oil is tied to the dollar. The official rallying cry from the West is "democracy", but democracy in the West is plain old statism bent on developing global financial control. The IMF, World Bank, WTO -- does anyone know what these organizations want, or what they're planning? Too many people have no idea what these organizations are, and that's not a criticism -- most people in America are busy living their lives, and they believe our government, while not perfect, will do what is best for American citizens.

If our government leaders were worried about oil and terrorism, they'd return the troops, build the greatest defense possible against terrorism and immediately open up oil drilling and the development of all available sources of energy. We could solve the problem of foreign oil and terrorism by freeing up production of energy at home. Our government, unfortunately, is not doing what's best for Americans -- it's doing what's in the best interest of international, Western power players, because at the high levels of leadership we're seen as in a struggle with other powerful States like China and Russia. Thus, James Clapper, too unsophisticated to obscure the situation like Obama and his ilk, accidently told the truth and got in trouble,  

There's a growing number of people in the US who see through the Official Narrative of America for Democracy. The word "democracy" is meaningless -- it really means controlling the Mid-east before oil producing countries flee from the dollar. The Information Age and a high level of focus by many smart people in the US and across the world have threatened the status quo and promise a new kind of "revolution" -- not a "democracy revolution", but a limited government revolution. Statist governments in the West are crumbling, and they think they have to compete by becoming more like China and Russia, but this is where the battle begins -- being like China and Russia is the last thing we need. We need to be dynamically free, unfettered from the insane designs of misguided technocrats who think that States are in competition. The people of the world will be satisfied with peaceful trade and friendly competition among individual companies and interests. Slowly but surely the people of the world are getting there. There will no doubt be set-backs, especially as power-mongers try to their piece of domination in the Mid-East turmoil, but the door has been opened, and it will be damned hard to get everyone back in the cage.

I will end with irony. The union protests here in America are promoted as the average worker fighting for freedom and empowerment, but they're just patsies for a wounded status quo fighting for its statist life -- however, Republicans don't have the answer -- not unless they follow through with strict limits on government, and they show no signs of doing this yet. Our State system is so entrenched in international power interests that it will require dismantling and rebuilding. This ain't going to be easy. Every day I move closer to the realization that we need a revolutionary party which will dismantle the present system, but this won't happen until our economy collapses and everyone is on board because they have to be. Maybe it won't take collapse, but as strongly as many people feel about establishing a better system of government, there are still way too many protecting the status quo and demanding even more from a crumbling system.