When are we gonna see classical liberals and libertarians arguing to reduce corporate power then? I'm sure it'll happen any day now. They certainly don't constantly argue for rule by wealth.
Im not usually one for polemics. But sometimes polemics is called for. Here goes. Dear members of the moderate left, America is suffering from rampant, run-away corporatism and crony capitalism. We are increasingly a plutocracy in which government serves the interests of elite financiers and CEOs at the expense of everyone else. You know this and you complain loudly about it. But the problem is your fault. You caused this state of affairs. Stop it. Unlike we libertarianish people, you people actually hold and have been holding significant political power in the US over the past 50 years. What have you done with this power? Youve greased the corporatist machine every chance youve gotten. Youve made things worse, not better. Our current problems are your fault. You need to stop. We told you this would happen, but you wouldnt listen. You complain, rightly, that regulatory agencies are controlled by the very corporations they are supposed to constrain. Well, yeah, we told you that would happen. When you create powerand you people love to create powerthe unscrupulous seek to capture that power for their personal benefit. Time and time again, they succeed. We told you that would happen, and we gave you an accurate account of how it would happen. You complain, perhaps rightly, that corporations are just too big. Well, yeah, we told you that would happen. When you create complicated tax codes, complicated regulatory regimes, and complicated licensing rules, these regulations naturally select for larger and larger corporations. We told you that would happen. Of course, these increasingly large corporations then capture these rules, codes, and regulations to disadvantage their competitors and exploit the rest of us. We told you that would happen. Its not rocket science. Its public choice economics. You recognized, rightly, that public choice economics was a threat to your ideology. So, you didnt listen, because you didnt want to be wrong. Public choice predicted that the government programs you created with the goal of fixing problems would often instead exacerbate those problems. Well, the evidence is in. You were wrong and public choice theory was right. If you have any decency, it is time to admit you were wrong and change. Stop making things worse. You spent the past fifty years empowering corporations and the most unscrupulous of the rich. You created rampant moral hazard in the financial sector. You created the system that socializes risks but privatizes profit. You created the system that creates a revolving door between Obamas staff and Goldman Sachs. Theres a reason why Wall Street throws money at Obama. Its because you, the moderate left, are Wall Streets biggest supporters. Oh, I know you complain about Wall Street. But your actions speak louder than your words. You balk: Isnt the problem the regressive pro-market post-Reagan politics? Please, people. Lets be serious a moment. Reagan used a bunch of pro-market, pro-liberty, anti-big government rhetoric, but the man was no libertarian, and he did little to make the country more libertarian. Reagan spent and spent, and thus ran up the debt. He doubled the number of imports with trade restrictions. He pursued militaristic foreign policy. He increased rather than decreased the size, scope, and power of government. Reagan ramped up the war on Americans civil liberties drugs. He wasnt even a big deregulatorthat was Carter. Look past rhetoric to reality. Reagan was in practice just a more militaristic version of one of you. (More militaristic? Maybe Im giving you too much credit. While we spent Black Friday shopping, Obama spent it having his military murder innocent Afghan children.) Point your fingers at yourself. You did this. Now, heres the good news. Unlike we libertarianish people, you members of the moderate left will continue to hold and exercise power. So, learn some public choice, and use what you learn in practice. Im ready to forgive you, if youre ready to change.