A Vision of the World As Fair

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Some things are believed because the are demonstroably true. We believe that the sun is real because we can see it, feel its warmth. Some things are believed because the are consistent with a widely held 'vision' or idea of how things must be. One such belief is that government has our best interests at heart and must have it's hand in every aspect of our lives. Subjecting such beliefs to the test of hard facts is especially important when it comes to the economic beliefs which have inescapable limitations of millions of people's lives. Policies based on fallacies (visions of politicians) can be devastating in their impact because millions of people's livlihood are effected. Fallacies can be logical and plausable, but with something missing. It pays to look deeper. One such thing you need to 'dig' for is a definition; take the word fair. We all would agree 'fair' is something good because it evokes a warm fuzzy feeling in us. But what is fair? The Fair Trade Law, or Fair Labor Standard Act sound wonderful on the outside. The use of this word is a huge political advantage. People accept it as good for everyone. Who would actually speak out and be heard if they were against fairness? It is the same with the terms 'Social Justice' and 'equality'. There are many reasons why such terms are in effect 'fallacies' or better said, 'visions' of what someone besides you may really be saying and doing. The Zero Sum Fallacy means both parties in an economic transaction gain equal benefits from that transaction. But voluntary economic transactions, whether between an employer and an employee, tenent or landlord, or even international trade, would not continue if both parties weren't better off when the transaction takes place. When the government favors one party in the transaction over the other as in rent controls or miniumum wage laws the party favored has the upper hand. Is this always a good thing? Rent controls favor the tenent. Low rent means more people can afford housing. BUT as time goes on, less housing is made available because the landlords cannot make a profit, do not have money to reinvest in their property and to make up for this loss of profit they cut corners or stop maintaining the property. Tenents then suffer. Less housing, less adequate housing. Same with minimum wage laws. The employer is forced to pay more, (in the case with unions, higher wages than the market can bear) and so he will hire less or provide less services, lower quality products etc. so as to be able to stay in business. This was part of the reason GM had to bailed out, unions forced labor costs so high the company eventually went bankrupt. Government intervention in the economy that favor one party over the other eventually upsets the economy in ways that hurt the ones they were trying to make things 'fair' for. What has this got to do with anything? The politicians know how to use buzz words to make us agreeable and pliable to their interferance in the economy, in our social lives, in our private lives. What appears to be true, is not always true. Fair Housing or Fair Trade does not always mean FAIR as you understand fair. Those landlords provide a service to you and I, if they are not allowed to make some sort of profit, they will stop providing the product that is needed. It may take years, but when the government attempts to make things 'more fair' by favoring one group over another both parties eventually suffer. Life is not FAIR. People take risks, some succeed, others fail. AS INDIVIDUALS we don't like that and yearn for someone to make things EQUAL and risk free. But that is a vision of the world that cannot work if we are to stay free. Government as our protector is government as our master.