You asked “Have we ever had a system like this that worked ?” I have two answers – the first is – I don’t care. If you require something to have existed before you adopt it, you will never find anything better than anything that has ever existed.
Also, I prefer freedom and some mistakes over government intervention and fewer mistakes, though I’m confident there would be fewer in a free environment.
Second – the answer could be “yes.” I think early America was very much like this. There were problems, but (as long as you weren’t a Native American), there was freedom.
The way I see it is – the worst offenses of the kind you describe are when the government wrongly supports corporations, backs off on punishment, or bails them out. The Liberals always say “see how bad those awful corporations are” and the Conservatives always say “see how horrible the government is” The recent Gulf spill is a clear case where this happened and the bank bailout, of course
So, I agree that we need recourse. At some level, there has to be a body that steps in to do the dirty work to smack-down corporations when they screw up and it doesn’t happen enough. But recourse against mistakes or fraud is different from the government dictating what can and cannot come to market.
Also, putting faith in one government agency can lead to false confidence in the system. I think the SEC is a shining example of an agency that is really messed up. The regulations are wrong and the important ones are not enforced.
People often assume that “no government agency” is synonymous with “no recourse” and “free market” means anyone can do whatever they want. This is not what I’m saying or have ever said.
poorgradstudent said it well earlier – regulated free markets are the right answer. I would say “properly” regulated markets. By that I mean, markets where the transactions between people are regulated to ensure that fraud or deception or property rights violations are punished, but the products or services themselves are unencumbered.
In this light, the USDA inspections and meat-grading are not much of an issue, I suppose because it provides information to consumers, but the requirement of FDA approval for new products is bad stuff. Ask someone in the pharmaceutical industry what they think of the FDA sometime. See what they say.
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If we don’t like paying for wars we don’t want why do we ? We just live with it because that is the way it has always been. Again – I see complacency. But, if you think about it, we revolted against England for exactly that reason – taxation w/o representation. I suppose you could say we have representation now – certainly more than English citizens in the 1700s – but that representation has broken down remarkably in the last 100 years. A tiny percentage of the population support the $700 billion bank bailout, yet it was approved. To me, this is taxation without representation.
We just accept the fact that the gov can take our money and do whatever they want with it, even if it is flies in the face of our ethics, morals, or interests. It is a true sheeple mentality.
Ron Paul isn’t very flashy, but calling his campaign the Ron Paul “Revolution” is extremely clever and appropriate, because today’s conditions are reminiscent of England in the 1700s and I’m surprised and pleased with how today’s youth understand his message. It’s a good one and the right one.
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By the way, have you even looked at that blue line on the redfin chart ? It’s amazing.
