❝❝You keep expecting me to defend Trump, I'm not going to do it.

I'm a free market advocate. Voluntary activities between consenting adults. That works INCREDIBLY well. You can see evidence in everything from ballpoint pens to Lasik eye surgery to heirloom tomatoes. Without government propping up one industry or regulating another, we know that over time prices drop, availability spreads, and quality increases.

With government interference, one side exploits the others.

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I wasn’t talking about capitalism, I was talking about the free market. There is some overlap, but the two are distinct things.

The free market is the greatest driver of human progress and innovation yet discovered.

When costs go down and with competition, things get cheaper. That is vitally important.

It’s why ballpoint pens don’t cost $700 today (the original biros cost more than that in today’s money). It’s why today’s iPad has more computing capacity than all of NASA had during the first Moon shot yet costs less than $1000. It’s why I can buy fresh veggies at the grocery store even in March.

That means that I don’t have to spend as much providing shelter, food, and clothing for myself. That’s why I have money for other things.

That’s why there are going to be more jobs in the future and not less. Before Bill Gates and a bunch of hired gun lawyers, nobody thought software could be sold profitably. Now we have app stores that sell programs for your phone at less than a buck. At one point cars were hand built without standardized parts. Now aftermarket add-ons and modifications are part a billion+ dollar industry. Back in the 80s if someone had told me that there would be speciality coffee places in Tuba City, Arizona I would have laughed in their face.

What we need is government to get out of the way.

McDonald’s and Wendy’s are automating. It would have happened anyway, but the latest push towards a higher minimum wage certainly accelerated things. Sears, Macy’s, and J.C. Penny are closing stores. How much of it is because of Amazon and other online merchants? We’re getting to the point where even our currency is electronic and we never see most of our money.

There are millions of jobs out there that no one has discovered. There are millions more that government wants to suppress for the silliest reasons. Hair braiders, taxi drivers, baby sitters, all these are highly restricted.

Government holds us back. To govern literally means to restrain.

Government is not your friend.

No matter what it promises, government can’t give anything without taking it from someone else.

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Roads - right now our public highways, roads, and bridges are in serious disrepair. Business and corporations keep their facilities up for as long as there is a need. They can't do otherwise and stay in business. The same can't be said for government. Often the money for infrastructure is diverted to other, more "urgent" concerns.

A libertarian military would do away with conscription for starters. That means fewer wars. These last couple of decades have shown what happens when corporations use state military to fight wars. Maybe they should pay their own way, don't you think?

Most of the reason why healthcare costs are so high are because the government is involved. It started when salaries were capped and companies started offering benefits to attract other workers. Under Obama, it wasn't about health care, it was about the insurance controlled and taxed by government. They turned your health into a revenue stream. For your own good, of course. Then there's the bit about how it's always easier to spend other people's money. Promise government cars and everyone will want a luxury sports car replaced every three months. Promise free or reduced cost health care and people want the most expensive. That doesn't even cover the problem of getting enough doctors or nurses, both of which have been in extremely short supply the last eight years.

There is a difference between health care and catastrophic care insurance. Treating them equally and "spreading the costs" makes things worse.

10 Jobs That Didn't Exist 10 Years Ago

10 jobs that weren't around in 1989

Top 10 Job Titles That Didn’t Exist 5 Years Ago

I don't think we should dictate what people need.

I think people do best when they make their own choices and accept the consequences.

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Admittedly the Friedman bit was a shortcut. I happen to agree, but I don't think it's an article of faith.

With a planned economy, what people don't like to talk about is the tradeoffs. Use government to divert money and it weakens the economy. Encourage widgets and you are not only pay for more widgets, you're also paying for a bureaucracy to monitor widgets, to collect fees for widgets, to distribute funds for widgets, and to change laws and regulations for widgets. Eventually you end up with competing programs with massive hidden costs for widgets, thingamabobs, and whatevers that draw resources from every other part of the economy despite what people want. Meanwhile most folks never notice that the real profit is in getting government to protect your business.

You see, I believe in the American character because I believe in people. That's my article of faith. I know that in any given situation, there are going to be people who get frustrated and say "I can do better than that!" Many won't follow through. Most of the rest will fail spectacularly. But there will be a few that succeed and they change the world.

Government shouldn't be involved in that because nobody knows which ones should win.❞ class="ghoster">❞

NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
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Tags: ballpoint pens ∙ Lasik eye surgery ∙ heirloom tomatoes ∙ government ∙ capitalism ∙ free market ∙ ballpoint pens ∙ iPad ∙ NASA ∙ moon shot ∙ groceries ∙ Milton Friedman

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