What's So Free About the 'Free Market'?

I see that Portugal has finally fallen victim to the money markets, and joined Greece and Ireland in the Rogues Gallery of ne'er-do-wells - unable to support themselves. It seems we should see them as hapless layabouts, seeking the charity of their philanthropic fellow Europeans - who’d better keep their noses to the grindstone if they don’t want to end up in the same position.

However, I heard another side to the argument on the radio yesterday, when a guy said that 'we're not bailing out the Portuguese people, we're bailing out the banks that lent them money' – (words to that effect).

Well that argument could go on forever, because whatever we do in life we usually find that we’re treading on someone else’s toes. Even if you decided to become a Trappist monk, the local nimby would object - because, living on this planet is a shared experience, and whatever we do affects others.

So, a discussion about freedom and democracy becomes quite convoluted, and factionalised, and that in itself leaves us vulnerable to opportunism.

Another aspect of the ‘Free Market’ is that, not all participating nations are democratic. So, even if we could agree about how we should define ‘free’ and ‘democratic’, we’d still have to function in a system that is neither free, nor democratic.

Once again, that causes friction within nations, and between nations. And when we find that we can’t compromise, we start bombing one another - those who supply the weapons, ironically and invariably, becoming the major beneficiaries of the conflict. Trade wars, are essentially no different, in that ordinary people find themselves pitched against one another, amid a smokescreen of opportunistic exploitation.

So, when I hear the word 'free', used along with the word 'market', I want to know what they mean by free. 'Free' is one of the most overworked words on the internet - and usually, the bigger and bolder it looks the iffier it turns out to be.

I want to know who is free - and, to do what.

Are the Portuguese people free from debt? If they're not, how did they lose that freedom? Are newly born Portuguese babies free? Or do they lose their freedom by being born into debt?

If we must live more austerely, that's fine; I don't believe that austerity in itself, has to have any adverse affect on people's wellbeing and health. It's a question of how we prioritise. However, who should have the right to impose any such conditions upon us? If we live in a democracy, should we decide - or do we let the so-called 'Free Market' impose those conditions upon us?

My instinct is that debt is a trap. I know very little about economics, and I avoid personal debt at all costs, but debt has never seemed logical to me: You borrow money (presumably because you don't have enough), from the type of people who control most of what’s available. They charge interest at... well in the UK, whatever they like, but let's just say 12percent. Yet, when they get their hands on your money, the best they can offer you in interest is 2-3percent - with strings attached, of course – and they still can't balance their books!

Yet they would have us believe that they’re indispensable, because they’re so clever and talented. They may be clever and talented, but more so in jiggery-pokery than economics, judging by their record.

We can't win - and I suspect that we're not supposed to win. We can vote for whatever we want, but as long as we vote for politicians who support the economic status quo, which is based on gambling and debt, we’re stuck in a trap that makes nonsense of democracy - whether, like me, you believe that the trap is intentional or not.

To evaluate the use of the word ‘free’ in the context of the ‘Free Market’, and its gambling and debt structure, then, we might want to ask ourselves some simple basic questions.

If I found myself in debt – (or as it happens now, that I’ve found that I'm part of a group of people - a nation - who'd borrowed too much, and must now repay the creditors) - I’d want to know what we’re doing to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. I’d want a comprehensive, clearly defined analysis of how these creditors acquired such a surplus, whilst producing nothing useful, yet managed to lose everyone's share, but their own - and what we will do to stop that happening again.

I’ve heard expressions used by the gurus of conventional wisdom, such as 'lateral thinking', 'thinking out of the box', and 'brainstorming'. They talk about 'think-tanks', and, concerning pensions etc., we get expressions like 'think the unthinkable' - and so the thoughts of those commissioned to ‘think the unthinkable’, have brought us pension reforms and various other policies, which I would describe as regressive and that adversely affect the quality of our lives. However, I’ve seen no serious attempt to reform the banking system. Apparently then, some things truly are 'unthinkable'.

We're threatened and blackmailed. They tell us that if we don’t comply, things will be worse. That behaviour is typical of bullies and abusers – but is it true?

Here’s a little history: In the UK, about the only big industry left now is the Financial Services Industry, due to the outsourcing of all other industry to places where people are cheaper and easier to abuse.

Here’s the point: From the 1980s onwards, UK workers were urged by all the major parties to forgo the trades unions and accept lower standards of working conditions and wages to avoid seeing their jobs outsourced. They did. Still their jobs were outsourced, and their pension funds raided.

Here’s what happened next: We were encouraged to borrow to make up the shortfall, and maintain our standards of living. The result being that now we're in debt.

The moral of the story is that trusting, and backing down to these sorts of people is not the answer; we have to get together, and stand up to them. We must vote for politicians who will face up to the moneylenders, or to anything that would threaten our quality of life. That’s our democratic responsibility.

I don’t believe that it’s possible ever to have total freedom - and ‘free’, is one of the most misused words in the English language; whenever I see it, I get suspicious. Even those living in their tax havens surrounded by their private armies, can’t secure total freedom for themselves in a World that we all must share to some extent.

Yet we can optimise our freedom by optimising our democracy, by remaining vigilant about it, and refusing to let anyone undermine it, accepting no excuses. We might also recognise that a ‘Free Market’, which undermines democracy, might represent opportunity and greater freedom for a few, but it is likely to afford scant freedom to the majority.