SwampFox

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself

Note: This post was originally made on Jul 02, 2006. Given some of our recent discussions, I though it was worthy of posting again.

Radical new experiments in freedom are buzzing around us at this very moment. I observe in Swamp Fox Insights that, "At the turn of the twenty-first century, an information revolution is again changing how society perceives itself so fundamentally that it is redefining what it means to be 'modern.'" Management consultant Tom Peters has observed, “We live in a Dell-Wal*Mart-EBay world!”

To that he can add that we live in a Wikipedia world, which is at the vanguard of the open source movement. "Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written collaboratively by many of its readers. It uses a special type of website, called a wiki, that makes collaboration easy. Lots of people are constantly improving Wikipedia, making thousands of changes an hour." Wikipedia:Introduction

Wikipedia is fascinating at several levels. An encyclopedia is a compilation of "truth." Works like the Encyclopedia Britanica look to learned people who have spent a lifetime of study in their specialty to divine "truth."

Wikipedia turns that on its head. Mitch Kapor argues, "The community-run online encyclopedia explodes the myth 'that someone has to be in charge' as well as the assumption 'that experts count.' Wikipedia shows you can create high-quality products through the contributions of a broad, democratic community of amateurs, a self-governing collective operating on the internet without any hierarchy." Wikipedia and open source

Nicholas Carr objects, "The open source model is not a democratic model. It is the combination of community and hierarchy that makes it work. Community without hierarchy means mediocrity." Wikipedia and open source

After vandals inevitably started abusing the spirit of Wikipedia and editing articles in biased ways, it turned out Carr was right. The Wikipedia powers that be tweaked who could edit an entry and how. Interestingly, that brought a stinging rebuke from Carr that control resulted in The death of Wikipedia "Wikipedia has been, and continues to be, the poster child for the brave new world of democratic, 'citizen" media, where quality naturally 'emerges' from the myriad contributions of a crowd.' But now, "Where once we had a commitment to open democracy, we now have a commitment to 'making sure things are not excessively semi-protected.' Where once we had a commune, we now have a gated community, 'policed' by 'good editors.'"

Well, well. Winston Churchill understood that freedom is a messy thing. He noted, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried," but that "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." That brings to mind William F Buckley's, Jr.'s admonition that, "I would rather be governed by the first 2000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty".

Milton Friedmon understands, "A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that... it gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. The existence of a free market does not of course eliminate the need for government. On the contrary, government is essential both as a forum for determining the "rules of the game" and as an umpire to interpret and enforce the rules decided on. What the market does is to reduce greatly the range of issues that must be decided through political means, and thereby to minimize the extent to which government need participate directly in the game. Capitalism and Freedom

Martin Luther King, Jr. chastised his friends, "I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Freedom does not occur in a vacuum. Freedom occurs in community, and its preservation is a daily struggle.

Hope you have a happy and healthy Fourth of July.

Note: Brad Warthen of The State editorial page has commented on this post on his blog, and a dfferent stream of the conversation has begun there.