Free Markets and the State

Laurence:  Collectivists presume that any unintended consequences that arise despite their carefully planned schemes must be attributed to the “free market.”  Such people are completely ignorant of the dynamics of chaos and complexity, which remind us that complex systems are inherently unpredictable, and will produce unanticipated results. When state planning goes awry, and creative minds are able to find areas in which unintended outcomes provide space for productive human action, the planners begin screeching about “loopholes.” What politician, bureaucrat, academician, or other third-rate thinker, does not regard the “closing” of a “loophole” (i.e., individual liberty) the basis for a “socially responsible” campaign?  I suspect that Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Mussolini, FDR, Lincoln, and other tyrants, experienced acute outbreaks of the shudders at the prospect of a few people being able to live outside the boundaries of  their carefully-regimented systems.

For the same reason that geneticists advise “cherish your mutations,” we need to “cherish our loopholes,” and promote their expansion to include all others.  Have “women” enjoyed the “loophole” of not being subjected to military conscription? Then let us extend that benefit to include men!  Such modern-day slavers as Charles Rangel will shriek their indignation, but collectivists have always dreaded the specter of a society of free individuals.

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11:17 am on February 17, 2013