Are you driving around town burning rice? Do you drive a tinny Toyota Prius? How about a hokey Honda? A boring BMW? A McCAWY MERCEDES? Do you know your country is in trouble? and you have the nerve to buy a Hyundai!! WTF is wrong with you? The stock market is low down, stocks are cheap..start buying or you'll always be driving around in a Hyundai. buy American for once in your life..the free market ain't free anymore:by Daniel HolcombWednesday 26 of November, 2008
An enigma, he remains. Not many have seen him, though a few wealthy, priviledged individuals act as his spokesman. He is the key to the American Dream, and his praises have been sung by politicians on every side of the fence. What exactly he does is unkown, but he is supposed the final arbiter and judge, a neutral and objective determinant to who gets what and the the measure to which it is divvied. His name is Free Market.
In the U.S., those who speak well of Free Market recognize he judges unequally, for not everyone receives a piece of the pie equal to his or her efforts. They state, however, that the free market is not responsible for suffering, that it determines fairly the value of a worker and his efforts. And even with the collapse of the economy, George W. Bush, Phil Gramm, and many others on the high side of American pay scale have said unequivocally that Free Market is not to blame.
Although the rich and elite including corporate CEO's, corporate boards of directors, and major investors have spoken well of him, as if they had talked to him, most American workers have never seen or heard him. I myself wondered if Free Market even existed. I wondered also if what was said about him was true. For this reason, I set out in search of this rogue called Free Market, in order that we might have his side of the story.
After much searching, I found him. Despite the accolades of the elites, he was not the proud, strong, and courageous character he had always been made out to be. He was timid, and displayed cuts and bruises all over himself. He had clearly been beaten and abused time and time again, by those who completely disregarded his obvious delicacy. His demeanor was not one of depression; his demeanor was one of utter despair, of one consigned to a permanent hell of repetitive robbery, beatings, and paper cuts from financial forms. At first, he was suspicious of my reasons for contact. He had been misquoted and misused so many times. How was this time going to be any different? However, after I explained myself and my cynicism about the claims of the wealthy elites, he relented and allowed an interview. What follows is the interview in its entirety, in his own words:
D.H.- So tell me a little about yourself, and what you do.
F.M.- Well, my name is Free Market, although, I don't like the name anymore. It just kind of sticks with me. I spend most of my days locked up in a room with no windows, deciding how the lives of millions of people will be carried out each day.
D.H.- Why don't you like the name Free Market?
FM- Well, because it's a lie. I haven't been free in a long time.
D.H.-Tell me more.
F.M.- I've been a prisoner for many years. CEO's, politicians, and investors hold me prisoner in this room, and they tell me what to do, where to go, and how to live. I've been threatened, beaten, lied to, caged, abused and insulted. I don't have any freedom here. I hate what I'm forced to do to so many American workers. I'm told that they must have higher productivity, lower wages, less government welfare to make up for that, and protect the business owners, who take the extra money from the workers who earned it. Then they tell me to keep quiet about all of this, never to talk to anyone outside of this room. If I do, I'll be killed slowly and painfully. Then they go to the press and lie about what I say and do. It's unfair.
D.H.-That's awful.
F.M.- Yeah, it is. I mean, I used to be free, when I was born. But then some people became powerful, and they took control of me. Since then, I haven't had one moment of freedom. I mean, think about it. My name is an oxymoron. I can't be free now that a few have taken control. So don't call me Free Market. Just call me Market.
D.H.- Market (laughs). Phil Gramm needs to hear this.
F.M.- He's part of the problem. He came in here one time, telling me he was deregulating me. He made the government hand out a restraining order against itself. Now the government was no longer allowed to go within 1000 feet of this room. But the business owners could come in here any time. Gramm told me I would now have to do everything he said, or he would slit my throat. He told me to steal trillions of dollars from the American worker and give it to him and his friends.I told him that he would never get away with it, because it would be obvious that he commited a crime. Gramm said no one would doubt him. After all, he has a Ph.D. in economics. So no one would question his actions.
D.H.-That's terrible. But wouldn't President Bush find out about this crime and punish Gramm?
F.M.- Bush? Don't make me laugh. He always talked about the great job I was doing. I met him at his inauguration in 2004, and he had no clue who I was. When I mentioned some of my normal responsibilities, he gave me this clueless look. It was as if he had no idea what the Market does.
D.H.-So obviously he wasn't exactly a smart guy.
F.M.- Ha, not exactly. Too dense, too dumb, too oblivious to understand something like this. He had no clue the kind of suffering I was being forced to afflict on billions of people, not only in the U.S., but the world. All for the greed of CEO's and billionaire investors. And of course, Bush himself was too dumb to realize many of his policies that relaxed goverment oversight of corporations and the wealthy, as well as aid to and protection of the rest of the citizens, were what caused our recent problems. The same people that are holding me hostage are also influencing the government. And Bush even said recently that I wasn't at fault. WHAT!? I am at fault. I've destroyed the lives of millions of Americans and given corporate business owners more money. I am at fault. It's all my fault.
D.H.- It wasn't all your fault. You were being forced by Phil Gram and other greedy capitalists.
F.M.- Yes, but I could have just let them kill me. I didn't have to agree to do this.
D.H.-But without you, things could be much worse. People need a Market.
F.M.- Yes, but a fair one. Not a capitalist one. It needs to be a level playing field for everyone. Everyone needs an equal opportunity to succeed by his or her own efforts, not by the amount of power they can amass to oppress everyone else. At the very least, people need to revolt against a country and economy that condones the kind of slavery we have here. But no one has any power to revolt. It's all in the hands of Phil Gramm, Lee Scott, and other wealthy elitists. And they are my masters.
D.H.- I agree. I promise to get this message to the public. They must hear you out! You have have been denied the right to speak for yourself, and the results have been catastrophic. You are not Free Market. You are Captive Market. But it is not your failure as a market, it is our failure to try to make you "free" by allowing a free-for-all with no rules. We have no worker control, no balance of powers, no government interference in your affairs. Therefore, there is no public accountability for the actions you have been forced to take, and for the greedy capitalists who have manipulated you. It must be stopped! I will fight to make sure you are heard, to make sure that those responsible for your abuse are punished, and to make sure the that Americans and the world get back their dues for all of their hard work.
F.M.- Thank you. It's about time.
D.H.- No, thank you. You've helped me a lot. Thanks for your time.
F.M.-These days, I have plenty of it.
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