Some ordinary people conflate personal freedom and patriotism with a totally unfettered free market economy. Many of these ordinary people are actually victims of a deregulated free market economy in the form of stagnant wages, job losses, foreclosures, evictions, bankruptcies, skyrocketing healthcare and pharmaceutical costs and shrinking opportunity to name just a few of the effects. They reference the Constitution of the United States as the sacred document that guarantees this supposedly unrestrained freedom. However, the Constitution guarantees an equal opportunity for each person to pursue their vision of happiness, but also protects the general welfare of all, especially the elderly, women and children. This indicates the need for a well thought out balance that requires an effective government not necessarily smaller government. Profit should not come before the environment, worker and consumer safety, the law and the general welfare. Great wealth is unattainable without the foundation supported by ordinary people, for instance, essential workers and the military. Freedom without responsibility and accountability is unsustainable.
We actually don’t have a free market economy, we have a mixed economy as all the successful democratic nations have. Over time, it gets pulled to the left and pulled to right, based on perceptions of the times. We must find the balance between the pursuit of happiness and the general welfare.
LeBron James recently said, “building your community is how you change the world.” Not hoarding all its resources for yourself….
reilly m gray 