Fixing, Not Preaching
The people who go around preaching free-market capitalism think they have a winning argument. They have all sorts of data and formulas that demonstrate how much better free-market policy works than any deviation from it. And they’re right about that.
But what does their winning argument mean — that we should all vote for free-market policy? No, it means that if overall national prosperity is your highest, or maybe even your only priority, then you should vote for free-market policy. But what if it isn’t? Then you shouldn’t.
The capitalists have had about as much luck preaching free markets as the typical fitness guru has preaching the “calories-in-calories-out” rule. Yes, you need to know about that rule if you want to get in shape (more than you want to eat to excess and avoid exercise). But what if you don’t? Then knowing the calories-in-calories-out rule won’t get you in shape.
The capitalists, like the fitness gurus, certainly help some individuals somewhere. But their dreams of converting their society into a substantially more prosperous, market-driven populace (like dreams of a substantially fitter populace), are perpetually stymied.
DNA
The answer is in the genetics. Mutational damage, I strongly suspect, is responsible for generating dysfunctional personality traits, including those we traditionally call gluttony, laziness, and envy. Preaching to people not to be gluttonous, lazy, or envious, when their brains are hardwired to prefer those behaviors, is like trying to knock down a brick wall with your face.
The people who diligently slave away in the DNA research laboratories are the ones who will one day bring us a free-market enthused, ultra-prosperous, and universally fit populace. The people who preach free markets and fitness are just putting on a show for their own aggrandizement.
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