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Letter: Our 'free market' isn't free

September 30, 2010

Dear Editor,

In the West we refer to our economic system as a free market system. Any economic policy the United States government ensues, the free market is the automatic default candidate for any blame. This is not only an inaccurate analysis; it is a straw man argument that is a gross misrepresentation of any true free market system.

Let me be the first to say that what we have seen during the time periods of acclaimed free market capitalism hasn’t been free market capitalism at all, but rather state-sponsored capitalism.

The two are very different. The number one difference between state capitalism and free market capitalism is the following: One enforces monopolies and the other doesn’t.

Through state capitalism, the state has market monopolies on goods and services such as the police forces, education, consumer regulations, roads for the most part, and most importantly, currencies.

We all are familiar with Federal Reserve notes, the green little slips of cotton paper that we use as money. Our Federal Reserve notes have no inherent or intrinsic value. Their only worth stems from the fiat faith-based value that we give them. The important thing to remember is that the money we use is, of course, from the government. Another thing we should realize is that anyone who wishes to start a private currency line will face many fines, imprisonment, court dates and handcuffs.

A prime example of this is the arrest and raid of Bernard von NotHaus’ offices at Liberty Services in Evansville, Ind. NotHaus, a man who minted a private hard-asset based currency called the Liberty Dollar, sought to introduce another currency in the “free” marketplace.

After the raid and seizure of all of his assets, he was forced to shut his currency minting company down. Although this is just one noted incident, the underlying truth is evident: We only have a “free” market until we try and step on the toes of the state.

One could ponder on the state’s incentives to monopolize the currency market, but I’d just like to throw out one little hint: Amendment XVI.

Vaughn Bateman
Danville

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