Free Market Myth

                                                                                      written 18 January, 2026

                                                                                  published 25 January, 2026

 

            You are reading this more than a week since I wrote it.  The chaos manifesting at the top of our government is accelerating, so anything I say here may have been completely overwhelmed by unfolding events.  The president's dementia is becoming increasingly apparent.  In the last week, more people were shot in Minnesota, as he floods additional ICE thugs into the situation.  NATO countries, normally our allies, sent military units to Greenland, to counter US threats of aggression there.  The president wants to politicize the Federal Reserve, threatening the stability of the dollar, and cap credit card interest rates, disrupting the entire financial community.  He acutely believes he is successful, and "joked" that elections may no longer be necessary.  Literally nobody, perhaps not even the president himself, knows what he will say or do next.  Is Maine at risk? or Cuba? or the entire American way of life?

            This is not happening in a vacuum, but is a culmination.  Adam Smith's 1776 book, "The Wealth of Nations", postulated that an unregulated capitalist economy, allocating resources by the hidden hand of the "free market", is the best for the country.  This has been used to justify the expansion of capitalism ever since.  

            But Smith listed several key assumptions necessary to validate his conclusion.  Among them are equal access to information and capital, which never happens in reality.  Because insider trading and limited access to funds are part of the real economy, greed and exclusive gain are amplified, distorting the market at the expense of the whole society.   

            Smith also assumed that all costs are included in the market price: another fiction, as many costs are externalized, not included in the price, often by design to make an item seem cheaper than it really is.  This also distorts the economy, enriching a few and impoverishing the many, as all costs are eventually paid by someone, but rarely by the original seller who made the financial gain in the first place.  

            An example of an externalized cost was adding lead to gasoline.  It did solve a problem in high compression gasoline engines, but caused lead poisoning and lasting health damage in the larger community.  The gasoline and auto companies made money, but health care costs fall on the individual, who may not have realized the cause, or gained anything economically from the transaction.  If the companies knew they were poisoning the people, they didn't advertise that fact, because it would have scared people away from their product.  Over time, the body of evidence grew to the point that governmental regulation forced the elimination of lead in gasoline.

            This is one of the functions of government, acting for the good of society, against damages caused by the unrestrained economic gain of business.  As capitalism has matured, entering the late-stage form of concentrating into massive industries, the government is the only agency with comparable clout to force an equitable resolution.  An individual has neither the funds, time, nor expertise to fight an issue in court against a massive corporation.

            As the post war economy boomed in America, public awareness of the adverse impact business makes on the world began to grow.  Unrestrained capitalism kills people and the planet for profit.  Rachel Carson published "Silent Spring" in 1962, launching the environmental movement, which was amplified by the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed in 1970 to modify that negative impact.

            Of course, the business community, which has always been championed by Republicans, fought back, denying reality to preserve maximum profitability.  Over the decades, the same playbook has been used by the tobacco, pesticide, and nuclear industries, among others.  With sufficient money, it is possible to sell any lie.  The planet is considered the ultimate land fill, and the value of people is diminished, to make the case against effective regulation of any kind. 

            Being rich his whole life, this Republican president personifies the myth of the "free market", unrestrained by morals, ethics, or laws: a metaphor for the supreme individual, acting as if he is isolated from any collective context.  Last week his EPA decided to limit concern to only the costs to businesses, totally ignoring the costs to society.

            But being at war with a fact, at odds with reality, is the definition of insanity.  Failure is inevitable.  The only questions are: how soon, and what will survive his demented tantrums?

 

 

 

 

Insanity

                                                                                      written 11 January, 2026

                                                                                  published 18 January, 2026

  

            Sanity can be defined as being in harmony with reality, while insanity is not.  Sanity in terms of culture, means "fitting in".  This cultural fitting can be flexible, allowing for creativity, or rigid, which leads to oppression.  However, sanity in terms of physical reality has more clearly defined consequences.

            For example, gravity is a physical reality.  If a person jumps off the top of a tall building, believing he can ignore that reality, the result is a lethal mess on the pavement.  However, jumping off the same building with a para glider, which harmonizes with reality, results in an exhilarating experience.

            Although reality is a given, our reaction to it is modified by our ego, that portion of our being that defines our sense of "self".  It is said that we all need enough ego to avoid stepping in front of a bus.  But the ego controls what information we allow into our awareness.  When that ego barrier is too rigidly defined, we exclude vital information, and become out of touch, in conflict with reality.  

            Our president's life is dominated by his ego.  Being wealthy from birth has shielded him from responsibility, and amplified his limitations to the point of delusion.  His niece, a psychologist, wrote a book about him titled "Too Much and Never Enough".  He denies any information that contradicts what he already believes.  However, his ego is so fragile he needs constant reassurance, requiring an assistant by his side, printing out news stories that flatter him.  Therefore, when criticized, he attacks, making him a bully.  By ignoring social rules and laws, expecting immunity from the consequences of his actions, he is a cultural misfit.

            The recent attack on Venezuela exemplifies his operational delusions.  The original "reason" was controlling drugs, yet he pardoned a man tried and convicted of bringing 400 tons of cocaine into the US.  The "reason" now is control of oil.  But he believes claiming control means he really has control, ignoring the will of the 28 million Venezuelans living there.  

            His disconnection from physical reality is apparent.  He states US oil companies will now run the oil resource, rapidly bringing 50 million barrels to market.  Yet those companies say it will take more than $100B, and a decade, to make that happen, and Venezuela is too unstable for such an investment.  Undeterred, and lacking any plan for Venezuela, the president's attention has already moved on to threatening invasion of Greenland, Mexico, Panama, and Cuba.

            Meanwhile, back at home, prices are rising due to tariffs, health care cost have spiked, and employment is down, all of which he claims is "fake news".  He denies the climate crisis, as fire insurance becomes unaffordable, and supports the most expensive electrical power source (nuclear), which won't come online for a decade, while killing investment in the cheapest electrical production (renewables), which the rest of the world is already installing.  Now his ICE thugs are killing white people.  As his popularity tanks, even Republicans are beginning to resist.  Our president is insane.     

            Fear is his currency and chaos his strategy.  While this hasn't often happened in the US, it is not new in the world.  People have dealt with this before, and left wisdom relevant to our time.

            "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief.  Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now.  You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are free to abandon it."  The Talmud.

            "To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.  It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.  What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.  If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something."  Howard Zinn.

            “Whatever happens, stay alive.  Don't die before you're dead.  Don't lose yourself, don't lose hope, don't lose direction.  Stay alive, learn, study, think, read, build, invent, create, speak, write, dream, design.  Stay alive with joy."  Virginia Woolf

            Authoritarians want you to believe what you are told, that you are powerless to resist.  But we have the power to choose.  Just because our leaders are insane, we don't have to be.  Being calm radiates into the world.  Meditate.  Speak your truth.  Gather with others.  Contact your representatives.  Vote!  This too shall pass and the tide is turning. 

  

 

 

A Loose Cannon

                                                                                        written 4 January, 2026

                                                                                            for 11 January, 2026

  

            The president has been in office for almost a year now, and I was preparing to summarize the various assaults we have endured during that time.  Then I woke up Saturday morning to discover he had unilaterally attacked Venezuela, and kidnapped their leader.

            As a candidate, he claimed he would put America first, foregoing foreign adventures.  “We have to straighten out our own house. We cannot go around to every country that we’re not exactly happy with and say we’re going to recreate [them].  We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn't be involved with.  This destructive cycle of intervention and chaos must finally come to an end.”  However, the president has a history of bait and switch lies, and people who believe him are surprised as he betrays them whenever it serves his narrow self-interest.

            For months, the story was we needed to blow up Venezuelan fishing boats (committing possible war crimes) because they were "trafficking fentanyl into the US" (which actually comes from Mexico).  Now the story is "they stole our oil".  But the real reason is probably more traditional, an autocrat distracting attention away for unpleasant news resulting from his activities at home.

            One of his first acts made permeant the tax cuts for the 813 US billionaires, who need it the least, while added several trillions to the national debt we all will pay.  He then accused other nations of taking advantage of the US, and applied massive, chaotic, tariffs, which he claimed "others" would pay, but in reality, added hundreds of billions to domestic prices.  Consumer confidence has dropped, consumption is down, companies are downsizing with 400,000 laid off, and corporate bankruptcies have spiked.

            In addition to assaulting allies with tariffs, the president has threatened to annex Canada, Mexico, Panama, and Greenland.  He then added intrusive entry requirements on tourists, sharply reducing the international tourism economy. 

            His focus on illegal immigration has almost totally closed the border.  Aggressive ICE raids have deported tens of thousands, including some US citizens, and many more left voluntarily.  The resulting shortage of agricultural and construction workers has increased food and housing prices.

            The administration eliminated 200,000 federal employees (7 percent of the total) with DOGE.  But the process was chaotic, and many of the people laid off were rehired, when their work was recognized as critical.  Firings at the Center for Disease Control, and Department of Health, have weakened US public health.

            Federal funding was reduced for national parks, university research, and foreign aid for the hungry.  Now subsidies for health care and child care have been cut, adding to the cost of living for tens of millions at the lower end of the economic spectrum.  The health care cuts hurt small rural hospitals and clinics, reducing services, or forcing complete closure in some cases.

            He labeled the climate crisis as "fake news", and any federal mention has been eradicated.  Departments working on climate have been eliminated, including even the collection of data.  Billions in funding for electric vehicles, solar, wind, and batteries have been canceled.  But the reinsurance industry announced that the global economy is at risk, because costs from climate impacts are advancing faster than the funds to repair the damage.  Ignoring this, US programs and funding to help citizens recover from disasters have been slashed.

            China is the global leader in producing EV's, solar panels, and batteries.  Globally, 600 gigawatts of solar were installed just last year, while the US is investing hundreds of billions in modular nuclear reactors that don't exist yet, a financial bubble ready to burst.

            Alarmed by all this self-inflicted economic damage, the US credit rating has been downgraded and foreign investment has decreased, raising interest rates.  

            These increased domestic costs, in a declining labor market, make affordability a pressing issue, but the president calls this "fake news".  Since he was given $400M dollar while still in school, he has probably never bought groceries in his life, so the basics of life have never been unaffordable to him.  His complete lack of empathy prevents him from believing anyone else's reality.

            With no real solutions, popularity dropping, and the never-ending threat of the Epstein files, it is no wonder that he started an illegal war in South America.  As bad as this first year was, the second looks to be worse.  But we still live in a democracy and can do better.

 

 

 

 

 

What If?

                                                                                  written 28 December, 2025

                                                                                    published 4 January, 2026

            The beginning of a new year is a time to consider new stories, redefining our perspective, which changes our experience and expands possibilities.  Looking at the edge of a piece of paper, it seems vanishingly thin and useless, yet from another perspective, the page is vast enough to write a complete story.  What if we consider new perspectives?

            Our culture deifies the rugged individual as separate, locked in eternal competition.  Yet the world is actually whole, interconnected at a level well below our material senses.  To realize we live in constant relationship with other lives, just try to hold your breath.  Our individuality, which is essential to being a person, is only relative, not absolute.  What if cooperation is more important than competition? 

            Capitalist theory believes the "free market" inexorably balances resources for the greatest good.  But the historic track record shows this is a fairy tale, like Santa Claus, designed to comfort children and keep them behaving nicely. Capitalism is an essential transformative force, like fire, which has made the world a better place for humans.  But unregulated fire storms can destroy decades of work in minutes, so to, unregulated capitalism eventually consumes everything ever built.  What if we treat capitalism with respect, like adults, and regulate it, so life can flourish?

            Elon Musk, the first trillionaire, with a paper wealth beyond imagination, lives oblivious to the tens of millions struggling to find affordable health care, housing, or even sufficient food.  Despite being a technological genius, he is a disturbed individual, addicted to horse tranquilizers, who thinks the world is underpopulated, and has stated that empathy is the downfall of civilization.  What if our culture viewed such massive wealth as a sign of mental disorder, like a hoarder, oblivious to the filth and decay that surrounds them?  These people need help, for all our sake.

            Western religions teach life is "one and done", with a single chance to learn to live a moral life.  What if we have many lives, as believed by more than 3 billion people?  What if we have all been both men and women many times already?  What if misogyny is form of self-hatred?

            Nobody likes having a selfish bully cut ahead in line.  Does such bluster endear them to you?  Our president, the poster child for the selfish bully, has created a national policy of "America First", becoming a world class bully.  However, America, only 4 percent of the global population, already consumes 24 percent of the global energy and resources.  Will America taking even more endear us to our previous allies?  Will this impress the other autocratic bullies in the world?  

            Like it or not, all individuals, and all countries, live on the same planet.  At some point, the fact of this common reality will prevail, either by global cooperation or global collapse.  What if our national policy decided to honor this connection, rather than flaunt our apparent separation?  What if we cooperated such that that all life flourished?  What if we worked to "Make Earth Great Again"?  

            Imagine working to insure every person, domestically as well as globally, had access to clean drinking water, safe sewage disposal, affordable electricity, healthy food, energy efficient housing, sufficient health care, and education up to their ability.  Is this any more insane than the idea we can continue killing the planet for profit?

            Our culture teaches that individuals are small, insignificant, and powerless.  Looking at the stars in the night sky seems to support this, and most of us have internalized this story.  What if that is incomplete?  As Joni Mitchell said, we are "billion-year-old star dust", arising from the same energy and material as the rest of the universe.  What if we have access to more power than we can imagine, held back only by the old stories of limitation we have been taught?

            Have you ever watched your body heal a skin wound?  Do you notice that most of what you eat is gracefully digested?  Our bodies are continually recycled, on timeframes ranging from a few days to a decade, while our sense of self endures.  All this happens without our conscious mind being involved.  What if that innate wisdom has even greater capacity in life?

            What if the chaos we are now experiencing is just the falling away of an old order, defined by exclusive gain, limitation, and separation?  What if we are the ones we have been waiting for?