Thursday, January 10, 2008

Free Markets and Democracy

I get frustrated when Christian authors assume that Free markets and Democracy are two pillars on which to build a Christians society. They just assume that these have equal moral value.

The truth is that these two are not morally equivalent. A free market is a place where people can offer to sell things and purchaser can choose whether or not to buy what is offered. There is no coercion.

Democracy is a mechanism for the majority of people to force their views on various minority groups. The people of Kenya understand this, while many in the West do not. Democracy is method for one group to coerce another into doing things that they may not want to do.

A free market supports freedom. Democracy reduces freedom. Therefore they are not of equal moral value. The former is desirable. The latter should be avoided.

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