Capitalism fails as a society-wide economic system. So please stop genuflecting to it.

Free markets do work wonderfully...when they are well-enforced to keep them free; when there are many similar options to the consumer, making for healthy competition; and when there is equal access for all potential buyers and sellers.

Left unregulated, ‘free’ markets inevitably become not so free.

More importantly, by far, free markets DO NOT WORK in many ‘goods and service’ arenas.

Utilities, for example. Roads. Police. Ambulance. Fire. Social services (if a child keeps showing up at school with unexplained bruises, should the school take bids on who will visit the house to see if there is abuse?)

Another arena that doesn’t lend itself to free market exchange: the labor market.

Every job is categorically different. Because it’s never merely about the work; it’s about the people you work with, the company you work for, and the smallest details of working conditions or compensation can make a huge difference in the overall nature of the job. These are things that cannot be known ahead of time, which by definition makes it not a free market, because all the needed information isn’t there. And for most of us it is very difficult to change jobs. It is not simply a matter of not buying that brand of soap anymore. It’s a matter of being able to consistently pay the rent.

So, again, capitalism fails as a society-wide economic system.

And then…health care. Small little detail of modern society.

Capitalism fails miserably at efficiently and effectively providing health care. There is NO free market for stroke victims, for example. You go to the nearest hospital that will take you, and that’s it. That IS the market. You pay their rates, that's it, no question. And certainly (short of another stroke!) no way to compare services!

Health insurance. There is no free market. Like jobs, tiny differences in the small print on a contract can make enormous difference in the nature of the service. Even geography can make a huge difference. Which insured services are available in your area?

Thanks for the read! Appreciate the perspective.