jstol3's Blog

First off - we have never had a free market society in this country. I know from textbooks how a free market society is supposed to work. It's very simple - demand drives supply. When demand is high industry cranks up and furnishes more of a product. If the supply is tight and demand is high the price of a product goes up and only those who can afford to pay are rewarded with acquisition of the product. If supply is abundant prices fall and most are able to acquire that good or service. If the supply of a product is over abundant and demand is non-existant companies producing that product tend to go out of business. There are lots of variables in the supply and demand scenario, so many in fact, that they can't all be listed here.

Today I heard on the news that some people want a "passengers bill of rights" for airline passengers because of long waits in an airplane (nine hours was mentioned) during which passengers were forced to sit on the airplane without refreshments and, in some cases, without access to restrooms. In this scenario the airlines are not showing common sense. If they are going to have to sit on the ground for an extended period of time they should de-plane the passengers until take off is imminent. If the airlines fail to act with common sense in these instances the government should step in. This is not a "free market" issue, this is a common sense issue. The government has the air traffic controllers, it allows or disallows the airlines to choose specific routes and it licenses pilots so if the airlines don't act responsibly and with common sense the government should step in and state just how long an airline can hold passengers without allowing them to de-plane.

There are many on this site who would argue against me who have advanced degrees. I only have an associates degree in political science and economics. I do have a lifetime degree in common sense, however, and I think that, given the present state of affairs, the government should step in.

Unless we have the opportunity to do away with all government regulation and create a true "free market" atmosphere in this country we need to have the government involved (this is not an endorsement of the "nanny state").

Fuel and energy are areas where we must have government intervention. We also need to have government sponsorship of alternatives to fossil fuels. Why? Because the suppliers of fossil fuels do not allow the "free market" to work. They create artificial shortages by withholding production, speculators manipulate the prices, special interest groups impede the development of oil fields and refinery capacity and the fossil fuel companies inhibit the development and distribution of alternative fuels.

I know that I'm going to get some heat from some very intelligent people who have advance degrees who believe that if you just remove all government regulation the free market will work just fine but I have to ask "what if grandma dies because she couldn't afford to heat her home or couldn't afford the fuel for her car to visit the doctor"?

Governments have a responsibility to the citizens of the countries they govern and governments have a  responsibility to the citizens who finance governments through taxation.