Comment by tkahn6
16 years ago
Do not confuse capitalism with anarchism.
Capitalism believes in a government which protects private property and human life with physical force. You can pay someone to punch someone else, but that's inconsistent with capitalistic philosophy.
Why would a government protect human life with physical force? Remember, the justification must be from a free market, not with reference to some other moral system.
What, in a free market moral system, prevents slavery? The justification must come from the free market, if free market is to be the moral system.
The justification must come from the free market, if free market is to be the moral system.
How can there exist a free market without the guarantee of the protection of private property? Without that you have anarchy (whoever is physically strongest wins).
I've never heard of someone invoking the idea of a "free market" without implying that the agents of the market are protected from physical harm.
This is by no means 'official' but from the first sentence of the article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market:
"A free market is a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to outlaw and prosecute force or fraud."
When people say "free market" this is what they imply.
What, in a free market moral system, prevents slavery?
The government.
How can there exist a free market without the guarantee of the protection of private property? Without that you have anarchy
See "anarcho-capitalism": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism
In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services would be provided by voluntarily-funded competitors such as private defense agencies rather than through taxation, and money would be privately and competitively provided in an open market.
You continue...
> > What, in a free market moral system, prevents slavery?
> The government.
No. Slavery is prevented because the income generated by those would-be slaves is less than the income generated when those people fill the role of "consumer".
Also, if there are non-consensual exchanges, then by definition it is not a free market, but that simply avoids the question...
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