Monday, March 12, 2012

Free Market Capitalism is an Economy Driven by the 99%

I’ve watched the Occupy movement with quite a lot of interest. I hung out for a day in October at McPherson Square with the Occupy DC folks. I was even on NPR for two seconds as they identified me as someone who was sympathetic to the TEA Party and also interested in what OWS had to say.

I was at CPAC and literally right next to Andrew Breitbart (coincidentally—we weren’t hanging out) as he traded words with Occupy.

Later that night I took part in the impromptu “beer summit” at CPAC where TEA Partiers basically bought drinks for a group of Occupy people and we traded ideas civilly.

I’ve read plenty of Marx, and Chomsky. My favorite class in college was a seminar I took on revolution.

The point is I have a decent sense of where Occupy is coming from and though I don’t agree with much that I hear from Occupy, I respect the noise. It is good for the Republic to have people yelling at the top of their lungs.

But there is one vital point that Occupy does not get. Markets and free market capitalism are the best things that ever happened for the “99%.”

That is a ridiculous statement Nick! How can you possibly say that? Look around. There is poverty everywhere. Kids graduating from college are saddled with horrible debt. Look at the wars and the war profiteering! Look at Wal-Mart and its exploitation of its workers!

Thing is, if one looks closely, it is the hand of the state that is behind these perceived injustices not the invisible one.

The poverty one sees in the United States is perpetuated by a highly inefficient welfare system.

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