The Indianapolis Colts could reach the goal of winning all their football games if it were not for the annoying interference of referees, rules and regulations, unnecessary markers and arbitrary boundaries, those unfair and confounding limits on the number of players the Colts may put on the field at any given time, etc.
In recent columns for the Tribune-Star, Arthur Foulkes, (Oct. 16), and Craig Ladwig, (Oct. 11), again make their case for free-market-and-nothing-but-free-market capitalism.
While I agree with many of the tenets of free-market capitalism, I grow leery at the idea of clinging to an intractorible economic principle once it becomes antithetical to pragmatism or to the reality of a situation. (Writer’s Note: intractorible — Hoosier dialectic, means you can’t hook it up with a chain and drag it through the fields where you need to go; also known as “Old Goat Syndrome.”)
I should certify that I concur with some of Mr. Foulkes’ previously published assessments, for instance, his disdain for the counterproductive use of licensing to stifle competition, e.g., limiting the number of doctors or medical students to create a false shortage of health care providers thus driving up prices or of forestalling approval of safe and effective drugs for the purpose of protecting established brands.
However, according to the mantra of the “free markets forever” crowd, anyone should be able to practice medicine, right? Forget peer review. Eliminate licensing. And educational requirements? Poppycock. Training? Hogwash. Experienced supervision? Fiddlesticks. Government oversight? Not on my watch. In the vision of free-market proponents, all such regulation is simply government meddling in the lives of entrepreneurs and victims alike.
Furthermore, why not just let the market determine what may be sold for use as pharmaceuticals? If a substance proves to be ineffective or unsafe, even lethal, normal market forces will eventually drive it from the marketplace, consumers of such unregulated products will soon be dead or broke or both. Case closed, as it were, by a simple open-casket ceremony. A free market cures all.
There is a word that describes completely free markets. That word is anarchy.
I’m not keen on the notion of “soda pop taxes,” (or cap-and-trade proposals either for that matter). And no one really wants the government micromanaging the daily affairs of our economic or personal lives. But I believe that we in the U.S. will find, as other countries have found, that the overcrowding effects of a burgeoning population call for many allowances.
As for Mr. Ladwig, who hints that our economic woes today are the result of “lockstep work rules and salary schedules of a teachers union” coupled with “inheritance taxes,” “minimum wage and prevailing wage,” may I remind him that our current difficulties are the result not of decent union wages and worker’s protections but rather of fiduciary irresponsibility (unchecked excessive greed) and reckless speculation at the upper tiers of corporate management and the damaging effects of a deregulated financial industry. It wasn’t too much government oversight that got us into trouble. It was too little. I suspect mundane realities may be a bitter pill for any free-marketer to swallow.
The free-market faithful lean toward the view that unbridled aggression should be the only path to success. The rest of us would prefer to see a level playing field.
Go Colts!
In closing, I would like to share with the mountebanks of free-market capitalism a recently penned poem.
A Squirrels-eye View of the Effect of the Death Tax on Free-Market Capitalism (by me). It is up to the oak tree to grow where it is planted.
— Clay Wilkinson
Terre Haute
Flashpoint
Flashpoint: Reality a bitter pill for free-marketers to swallow
- Flashpoint
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FLASHPOINT: Is this really the best we can do?
As you know if you pay attention to national affairs, the United States faces a perfect fiscal storm at the end of this year.
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FLASHPOINT:Bipartisan vs. Nonpartisan
During the primary election season there was much discussion regarding whether bipartisanship is a positive or negative attribute as it relates to the work of the United States Congress.
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FLASHPOINT: School libraries essential for reading achievement
If the situation were not so serious, it would be laughable. How can we improve reading achievement if we make it more difficult to put books in the hands of our children?
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FLASHPOINT: Lugar warns of 'unrelenting partisan mindset'
I would like to comment on the Senate race just concluded and the direction of American politics and the Republican Party.
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FLASHPOINT: Is money a problem in politics? Depends on where you sit
The role of money in politics needs to be better understood. Does it make the political system work better, or is it a problem — and if so, how much of one?
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FLASHPOINT: ‘Private’ clubs should be exempt from smoking bans
Over the past several years I have watched the Vigo County Council, followed by the City Council, and lastly the legislature of the great state of Indiana, wrestle with a smoking ban.
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FLASHPOINT: Downtown developers should share more details on project
With all of the opinions being expressed about the fate of the 500 block of Wabash Avenue, one element is sorely missing: the details.
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FLASHPOINT: Be careful when making accusations of ‘racism’
Perhaps, in a way that he doesn’t understand, Attorney General Eric Holder is correct in accusing America of being cowardly about discussing issues of race.
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FLASHPOINT: Historic hotel demolition was shameful day for Terre Haute
In an April 13 article on the potential demolition of historic buildings at Fifth and Wabash for student housing, Mike Ellis says, “I love the old historic buildings and have always had a passion to see them saved and restored. I was an opponent of seeing the Terre Haute House come down and the new hotel go up,” he said. “I have been proven wrong with what that would do for Terre Haute.”
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FLASHPOINT: Notes on saving structural history
There are several reasons why the historic buildings adjacent and west of Roger’s Jewelers should be saved, and why our downtown needs to protect and embrace our remaining historic fabric. First and foremost, rehab and reuse saves our historic buildings for future generations to experience, and the more architectural authenticity our downtown preserves, the more admired and “walkable” it will become.
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FLASHPOINT: Can anyone hear the call from Farrington's Grove
On Friday, March 30, a dear friend was brutally attacked in broad daylight in an alley in the neighborhood I grew up in, on the edge of Farrington’s Grove.
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FLASHPOINT: We have the power to co-exist without violence or prejudice
Innumerable forces in our lives, and throughout our society, seem to have convinced us that immediacy is best. We have to do it now. We have to have it now. We must go there now. We need it now!
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FLASHPOINT: Issue surrounding Florida shooting fueled by race
I am writing as a mother and as president of the Terre Haute branch of the NAACP because there may be some who wonder why the shooting of Trayvon Martin has created such an uproar: “What exactly is the issue?”
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FLASHPOINT: Indiana — open for business
With the 2012 legislative session in the rearview mirror, the two-year work of the 117th General Assembly elected in November of 2010 is complete.
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FLASHPOINT: The Constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act
On March 26, the United States Supreme Court will begin three days of hearings with six hours of oral argument on the constitutional challenge filed by Indiana and 25 other states against certain sections of the federal health care law: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as “Obamacare.” This historic lawsuit will explore the limits of the power of Congress under the U.S. Constitution.
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FLASHPOINT: The burning questions of ‘Fahrenheit 451’
“Remember the firemen are rarely necessary. The public stopped reading of its own accord.” — Ray Bradbury, “Fahrenheit 451”
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FLASHPOINT: Wonderful place to be during a very hard time
University Hospital (Indianapolis), part of IU Health Group, is a wonderful place to be if you are seriously ill.
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FLASHPOINT: America’s energy brings America jobs
The increase in fuel prices affects many aspects of our daily lives.
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FLASHPOINT: Change coming to the Indiana Statehouse
The General Assembly is about to undergo a major face-lift. I’m not talking about new construction. I’m talking about destruction — partisan destruction, in fact.
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FLASHPOINT: White House rejects Keystone XL: Sad day for U.S. workers
Imagine a project that could create 20,000 American jobs during construction, and as many as half a million longer-term positions.
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FLASHPOINT: Graduation rates are up; great news for Indiana
As Hoosiers celebrate the conclusion of a truly remarkable Super Bowl experience, there is even more good news that should fill us with pride.
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FLASHPOINT: Tech trail leading us into a dense, digital forest
It seems the Southwest Parke schools are the latest to play the laptop lottery game.
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FLASHPOINT: Republicans enable war on middle class, unions
About six years ago at the pinnacle of the Bush/GOP Dictatorship, I began telling you that the wealthy and Corporate America were laying the ground work to politically, financially and physically take over America.
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FLASHPOINT: Howey ignores truth to advance his agenda
Brian Howey’s Jan. 8 column about the U.S. Senate race proves once again that he will not allow the facts or journalistic ethics to get in the way of attacking Richard Mourdock and promoting his chosen candidate, Dick Lugar.
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FLASHPOINT: Putting fairness first
This time of year, with chords of Auld Lang Syne still ringing in our ears, it’s not uncommon or unnatural to think of days gone by as being more desirable than the era we live in today.
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FLASHPOINT: What really motivates right-to-work proposal?
You may have heard about the upcoming “right-to-work” legislation before our lawmakers in the next session of “law making.”
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FLASHPOINT: The right-to-work debate: ‘Devil at Our Doorstep’
As the 2012 Indiana Legislative Assembly convenes, January will represent a tipping point for all Hoosiers’ individual freedoms as politicians and Big Labor draw battle lines to determine if Indiana will become the 23rd right-to-work state.
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FLASHPOINT: State’s House Democrats will offer alternative for job creation
As the leaders of single-party control in state government outline their agendas for the 2012 session of the Indiana General Assembly, it is easy to be cynical about their intentions in the months to come.
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FLASHPOINT: Community colleges must lead way in reshaping higher education
In the 1970s, I began what was three decades in the automotive industry. ... Today, in my position as president of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, I see higher education confronted with some of these same challenges.
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FLASHPOINT: There’s little right about ‘right to work’ proposal
The danger contained in these three simple words – “Right to Work” — is that they sound so innocent.
- More Flashpoint Headlines
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FLASHPOINT: Is this really the best we can do?
Beryl Threatens Rain, Winds on Southeast Coast
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Astronauts Enter World's 1st Private Supply Ship
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NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
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Passenger Restrained on Flight to Miami Arrested
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
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Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
Dragon Arrives at Space Station in Historic 1st
Police: Gunman Has Hostages in Realty Office
Native Americans' Olympic Medals Displayed in DC
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Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Man Rescued From River in China
Beyonce Entertains the First Family
Celtics crush Sixers in Game 7
Alleged Lego Thief Faces Felony Charges
Has Snooki Named Her Baby?
Heat Wave Warms Holiday Weekend
Inspiration for the class of 2012
Colorado College Student Shot While Trespassing
Will Smith & Josh Brolin on "Men in Black 3"
80-Year-Old Skydiver's Nightmare Jump
JWoww Sizzles in a Black Bikini
Sliders on the Grill
Cruise ship crunch
Backstage With Beyonce
Ultimate Creamy Potato Salad
Pope's Personal Butler Under Arrest
Jenny McCarthy's New Man
Tyler's Classic Coleslaw
Britney Spears Under X Factor Fire
Flesh-Eating Bacteria Victim Hits Milestone
