Government, Greed and the Free Market
Overview:
Greed, taking something you didn’t earn is not possible for long in a competitive free market. If you get greedy, your competitors will undercut you and put you out of business, unless you have access to force that stops your competition. And such force is only possible with the help of government which holds a monopoly on the use of force.
Brief Presentation:
Ongoing Greed is only possible where a Coercive Monopoly exists, and Coercive Monopolies require Government force to create and maintain them. Ergo, greed is only possible through use of government power. It is impossible in a free market without access to force.
Access to force makes greed possible. Greed is taking something you have not earned. In a competitive market, the only way to be greedy is to have a monopoly and the only way to have a monopoly is to have access to force because the moment an individual or a company gets greedy and tries to extract excessive profits from a product or service, competitors will see the outsized gains and move in to undercut the prices needed to support the greed. If you don’t believe it, try going to your boss or customers and telling them you are doubling the cost of your products or services and see how long it takes for them to find other sources for your goods.
The only way to prevent competition is to have access to force. As all force is controlled by the government, greed is not possible without the cooperation of government leaders who are all too willing to help if it feeds their greed. History is full of examples of this type of cooperation. It is called Crony Capitalism and it is alive and well today.
WHERE GREED can and does show up is in Crony Capitalism which is only possible with the full participation of government leaders and employees.
Full Presentation:
The Occupy Wall Street movement cries “Kill Corporate Greed,” and rightfully so because there is corporate greed, big time. But what is corporate greed and what makes it possible?
Everyone wants to improve their own condition and living standard. We call that ambition and it is part of human nature. For a poor farmer in Africa that may mean digging a well and having clean water. For an American immigrant that may be getting a new car to drive to his job at Apple Computer. For a billionaire entrepreneur like Steve Jobs that may be a personal jet to improve his efficiency. To the immigrant getting a personal jet while he has to drive an older car may seem greedy. But to the poor African farmer the American having a car while he has difficulty getting enough to eat may be the pinnacle of greed. Should society take the corporate jet from Steve Jobs, sell it and give the money to the immigrant so he can get a new car. Or should the immigrant’s car be taken and sold to buy food for the farmer.
Is Steve Jobs greedy? Is the immigrant? Is it unfair for Jobs to have a jet or the immigrant to have a car when the poor farmer needs food? Some would say yes. If so, should everyone be reduced to the level of the poor African farmer? And after they were, what would we have. A world full of poor farmers because Steve Jobs would not have created Apple Computer and tens of thousands of good jobs including the one that made it possible for the immigrant to buy a new car.
One man’s greed is another’s necessity. So what is greed? Is it how much money one makes? If so, why is the accusation of greed never leveled at professional athletes and movie stars who routinely make far more money than the corporate CEO’s who are lambasted for being greedy? Most would say that the athletes and movie stars deserve it because they earned it by providing enjoyment to millions who willingly paid to see their performances. But, what about the poor farmer who cannot afford a theater ticket? Shouldn’t they be forced to work for an average farmer’s income, so the farmer can afford to enjoy their talents too?
If greed is not the amount of money you make or the fact that it is more than the poorest peasant in the world, what is it? I submit that greed is taking something you have not earned. And this is where the petal hits the metal on corporate greed. How to corporate leaders make their money, by providing something people want and are willing to pay for like the athletes and movie stars, or by taking it by force from customers or their employees?
So let’s look at how corporations make money. In a Free Market ….. can’t be greedy. To be greedy need the power of force.
Virtually all organized societies reserve the use of force to the government. So the greedy have to control government force.