Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Free market works despite laws

(My Clovis News Journal column for July 29, 2016)

Most people do the right thing (my chosen headline)

I try to assume everyone is generally decent until they prove otherwise. If they weren't, society would be impossible; government or no government. Good people don't need to be governed, bad people can't be, and smart bad people become government.

Look for problems, and you'll find them. If you treat people as you want to be treated, most will meet you halfway.

My dad and I recently set up his motor home in a small, privately owned RV park. While we were eating lunch about 20 miles away, one of the park owners was fiddling with the water spigot and negligently turned on the water to the motor home's "black water" flush-out hose. "Black water" is the RV euphemism for sewage.

As we were heading back, we got a call saying water was running out of the motor home. Why they didn't turn off the water as soon as they noticed is a mystery. When we got back to the park, it was worse than we feared. Water was flowing out of the RV anywhere it could escape. The "black water" tank had filled, breaking the toilet valve, and was overflowing into the motor home, and beyond.

Inside the RV was a horror show, particularly for my mom's cat who had stowed away and was awaiting a ride home.

We cleaned up the mess the best we could, readied the motor home for travel, and brought it back for cleaning and repair.

The RV park owners gracefully offered to pay for damages and cleaning.

Now, you can say this isn't how things always work out, and you would be right. Some people would say "not my problem". But, would you patronize their business ever again? Would your word-of-mouth advertising send them new customers? How long would they stay in business?

In a free society this would be the norm, rather than the exception. In fact, I believe it already is-- outside of government-- since people who depend on you making the choice to voluntarily spend your money with them want to keep you happy.

Only those you are forced to pay-- government bureaucracies-- can completely ignore your satisfaction. What do they care? If you refuse to pay for their services, they will send armed bullies to either get your money or kill you.

On the other hand, the free market works, even when crippled by having to work around government's made up laws. I'm happy to give it a chance.

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Prohibition is drug abuse


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Churches contaminated by cops

I get it that bad guys are welcomed in churches, supposedly so they can be convinced to repent- which means, don't continue to do the bad thing anymore. People in churches usually want to give bad guys a chance to stop being bad guys, and I can respect that.

But what if the bad guys don't even admit they are doing anything wrong?

Would your church allow an unrepentant murderer to attend without calling him out on it? Without demanding he turn from his ways and atone? Probably even insisting that he accept the painful and unpleasant consequences for his actions?

Would a church just let a rapist who admits he has non-voluntary sex with people on a daily basis, but who denies he's doing anything wrong by doing so (perhaps rejecting the label of "rape" for his actions), keep sitting among the members? Sunday after Sunday, without calling him aside about what he continues to do?

If your church allows cops to attend, without insisting they turn from their ways and stop being a cop, it is doing the exact same thing. If they attend church in uniform, it's even worse. In this case they are celebrating and advertising what they do. Probably even being prideful about it. And delusional church members may even believe they are doing a good thing!

But there are no good cops, and good people can't support cops without compromising away their good. It doesn't change matters if you are sitting in a pew, or standing behind a pulpit. If you condone what cops do, you have no moral high ground from which to speak to anyone about moral matters. You are an empty shell.

If I attended church I couldn't continue to attend one that didn't ask cops who showed up for services to turn from their ways. Relentlessly, until they change "jobs" or stop attending. My dislike for hypocrisy and inconsistency just wouldn't let me stay.

(Steemit link)
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A big "thank you!" to those of you who support this blog, with your visits, shares, or money. If you get any value from my writing, consider a subscription or a one-time donation to keep this blog going. If you believe I have contributed anything to the conversation regarding liberty during the ten years this blog has existed, and believe I have more to contribute, help me keep writing without the added difficulty of having a boss to offend.