free markets: a prescription for lack of leadership

i often am told how "free markets" are the most efficient and effective way to set the country's direction ... the price level of a given commodity will directly affect its demand level; what could be simpler and more efficient than that ...

but let's look at the auto industry and CAFE standards and addiction to oil and global warming and wars in the Middle East to procure oil and all the rest of it ...

in the early 1970's, it became eminently clear to anyone paying any attention at all that we were heavily dependent on OPEC oil ... articles like "America held hostage" appeared regularly throughout the mass media ... for a brief period, Americans sought smaller, more efficient autos ...

but as Japan took a larger and larger share of the smaller car market, Detroit found itself unable to compete ... the result? it was time to sell some good old American macho in the form of big trucks and bigger SUV's ... how the hell were they actually able to hypnotize so many?

so, using marketing techniques that might sell products but did generations of harm to the US oil addiction and global climate concerns, Detroit successfully peddled their wares ...

instead of a more centrally planned economy, one where the government provided strong incentives and some legislation to "encourage" businesses to align with the needs of the country, Congress repeatedly rejected "interfering" with the free market ...

since the 1970's, our use of fossil fuels for autos has wildly expanded ... at a time of "peak oil", Middle East instability, global warming and just plain oil soaring gasoline prices, government has been totally absent while the so called free market has tried to squeeze the last few drops of profit out of a dying paradigm ...

there's been virtually no expansion of mass transit ... there's been virtually no vision of making major reductions in commuter hours in the car ... there have been virtually no tax incentives or regulations or a national vision for alternative energy sources ... if the big money boys don't see a route to short-term profits, they, and their elected lackeys are just not interested ... and now they're peddling nuclear again ... are they insane? haven't we seen that act before? do they think we've forgotten?

we are desperately in need of a real energy policy in this country ... Democrats are pushing alternative energy technology as a source of jobs for the next generation and they're right to do so ... they really should make this part of a more comprehensive campaign to address global warming concerns and also the corruption of the halls of Congress by Big Oil ...

we desperately need leadership on this issue; it's time for Americans to be told the truth about "free markets" ... these markets may, over time, do a good job establishing the relationship between supply and demand; they do an incredibly poor job defining the vision and setting the necessary policies to achieve it ...

when only the greedy pursuit of profits drives the policy, only the interest of a greedy few, rather than the national interest, will be served ...

I see this phrase trotted out over and over by BushCo and their fellow travellers, as if there is something profoundly sacred about our right to drive idiotically large vehicles, eat offensively large amounts of food, buy endless heaps of crappy 'luxury' goods and generally charge around like the Earth's resources are an endlessly replenishing smorgasbord.

Unfortunately, our energy policy has been precipitated on just this assumption. Whether we reduce the atmosphere to a choking mess with toxins, heat the planet to the temperature of Venus or shred our DNA with radiation, we must not harm the 'American Way of Life.' Why are those in power so afraid of any disruption to our God-given lifestyle? Why, because if we are discomfited, we might wake up and notice quite a few things that need changing. Like for example, the people and institutions that rule us. And that would be A BAD THING.

So our way of life will be preserved for as long as possible, regardless of the cost, and we'll go on sleeping until the last barrel has been pumped, the last lungful of air has been inhaled, and the last Big Mac has been consumed. Because that's the way God wants it to be.

After all, how can you tell whether the Invisible Hand is giving you the finger?

Quite frankly, reading Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States", I'm actually surprised that we're not much worse off!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_People\'s_History_of_the...

On another thread, some posters have mentioned that the rise of the middle class owes a lot more to labor and all those willing to stand up to "the capitalists", sometimes facing punishment, torture, and death.

You might want to take a look at this timeline and ask yourself if it was capitalism that was really standing up for the little guy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_labor_issues_a...

Even better you can read Zinn's book ONLINE here:
http://historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html

I recommend these chapters that really highlight how "helpful" capitalism has been to creating the middle class:

11. Robber Barons And Rebels

12. The Empire and the People

13. The Socialist Challenge

14. War Is the Health of the State

15. Self-help in Hard Times


The key to "Free Markets" is actual competition, while the impetus of capitalism is to use your capital to remove competiton, either by buying them out, knocking them out, or just plain collusion to have a fake competition... Sound familar??

thanks for the link to Zinn's book - i've been meaning to read some of his stuff and just haven't made the effort yet ...

here's one for you - the focus is much more on empire and imperialist foreign policy: http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/global/cj_int/cj_int1.html (Note that this is a two part interview - part II link at the bottom) ...

i'm not sure i fully agree with your theme that if we had "actual competition", the lack of vision and leadership i discussed would be remedied ... my central point was that the people, through their government, should define the critical national objectives and then measures should be implemented to assure that business aligns itself with those measures ...

i'm not advocating rigid, central planning and control of industry by government ... but i do think that government needs to play a much greater role implementing legislation and providing certain financial incentives to "encourage" business to serve the national interest rather than a narrow focus on short-term shareholder return ... genuine competition can be an ally in making national progress but the vision has to come first from the people and their representatives ... of course, the problem we have now is that business is able to essentially buy themselves a government and steer that governments policies towards their own greedy pursuits ...