Bits of Democracy

There is, of course, no such thing as a “free market.” Markets are created, sustained and regulated by well-paid governments. And Adam Smith, the founder of economics, immediately argued that markets needed rules and regulations as checks on unbridled greed.

What we call a “free” market in our system is, as far as I can tell, a market with weak regulations. The result is a market that is crueler than many citizens can tolerate, driving them—for relief— toward authoritarians, including frauds like President Spanky Bonespurs.

With a republic and a well-regulated market, billionaires are absolutely safe and can do as they please. In a dictatorship, they live and die according to the whims of the Leader. Some billionaires recognize this and push to keep our usual oligarchical arrangement with its small bits of democracy. But other billionaires push toward an authoritarian system, which is not, finally, in their interest.