Free Market or Economic Freedom

Capitalism has become a dirty word.  Those greedy capitalists only want to get rich off your hard work, or by taking your money.  So, political strategists have recommended candidates avoid the terms capitalism or free market.  The new term is "economic freedom."  

I like the term, but think that the free market or capitalism refers to much more than just the economy.  As I have written before, our entire form of federal government was intended to encourage a free market among states.  The federal government is supposed to have extremely limited powers.  Policy is supposed to be determined on the state level.  For instance, if you want  a high tax rate, but a government that also takes care of your health care, retirement benefits, and tightly regulates other aspects of your life, you could choose to live in Massachusetts or California.  If you want little government regulation, low taxes, and few state provided benefits, you could choose to live in Texas or Montana.  The idea of the founders was to allow each individual state to choose the level of service and the rate of taxation for their state.  American citizens would choose where to live, based in part on state policies.  The system works when left alone.  The problem is that it is just human nature to interfere.  People in Massachusetts think those poor fools in Idaho aren't being treated fairly.  They have to pay for their own health care.  So they make it their mission to get the federal government involved in Idaho's affairs.  Soon, we have 50 (or 57, depending on your sources) states with the same policies and no freedom of choice.

Rand Paul, Republican nominee from Kentucky, has been criticized recently for his comments about 1960's civil rights legislation.  His statement was that he does not want it repealed, and if a senator at the time, he would have voted for it.  But, as a Libertarian (minimal government), he thinks the market would more effectively and permanently solve the problem of discrimination.


An excellent example of his theory is in, if you know me yet you should have guessed by now....... SPORTS!  One of the heroes of the civil rights movement is Jackie Robinson.  I would say that everyone knows the Jackie Robinson story by now, but I have very little faith left in the way history, or even what history, is being taught.  So, I'll just say that Robinson was the first black athlete in any of the major professional sports in America.  If you don't know his story, or just want a little more of his biography, click here.   So, what legislation was passed to force baseball to allow Jackie Robinson his chance to become a professional baseball player?  Would you believe none?  

That's right, no one forced Branch Rickey of the  Dodgers to give Robinson a chance.  Rickey saw a great talent in Robinson, and a great pool of talent that was only being utilized in the Negro League.  Not only would he get a great player and be the first to tap into a large number of talented players, his Dodgers would be the team of choice for a huge market of baseball fans - the black baseball fan.  While Branch Rickey may have been a civil rights proponent, his job was to sell tickets and win baseball games.  By signing Jackie Robinson, he did both.  The following year, Larry Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black player in the American League.  Soon black and Latino players were common in professional baseball.  As I said in yesterday's post, sports is a copycat business.  So it wasn't long before other professional sports followed baseball's lead.

The NFL did not enjoy the popularity of baseball and was not considered a major professional sport until the 1960's.  So the first black player in the NFL is hardly recognized.  Charles Follis played professional football for the Shelby Athletic Club in 1906, or possibly earlier.  Black players came and went from football rosters throughout the first half of the 20th century.  By the 1960's black players dominated the league.  In 1951, the NBA drafted three black players, the most famous being Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton.  Again, NBA rosters today are dominated by black players.  

So, why did the three major sports in America choose to employ black players years before civil rights legislation would have forced them to do so?  They were the most qualified candidates for the position.  They helped their employer make money - sell tickets, and be more productive - win games.  When the free market system is allowed to work unimpeded, it works as illustrated in sports.  People in business, as in sports, are interested in success.  They will do whatever is necessary to succeed.  Very few successful businessmen will allow a personal prejudice to influence their business decisions.  And if they do, the market will eventually eliminate them.  Without influence from government regulations.  

Life as Sport

Fans are constantly reminded that the NBA, or NFL, or whatever league is a copycat league.  In the mid 1970's, Tom Landry brings back the shotgun formation to the NFL.  Soon every team in the league is using the formation.  Jerry Glanville used a maximum pressure defense with his "Grits Blitz" philosophy in Atlanta.  Soon Mike Ditka's Bears are dominating the league with their pressure 46 defense.  In baseball, teams have tried with varying degrees of success to copy Billy Beane's "Moneyball" style of management to build teams on a budget.

Pat Riley won three championships with the Lakers before moving on to the New York Knicks.  His New York team did not have the talent Riley was accustomed to coaching, so he moved to a defensive philosophy.  His Knick teams were built around an aggressive, very physical defense.  Their philosophy boiled down to "foul them on every possession.  The referees, not only won't call every foul, but they will soon call fewer fouls as they become accustomed to the physical play.  It was a variation of the Overton Window theory I wrote about a couple of months ago.  Riley's Knicks were successful, at least until they ran into either Jordan's Bulls or Olajuwon's Rockets in the playoffs.

A few years later, Bill Belichick used the same tactic to beat the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl.  The Rams used their high powered passing offense, known as the "Greatest Show on Turf," to win a Super Bowl and were favored to beat Belichick's Patriots.  Belichick knew his defensive backs were no match for the Ram's speed receivers, so his defensive backs held the Ram's receivers on virtually every play.  After a couple of calls, the referees stopped calling the violation.  The Ram receivers were frustrated and the Patriots won a close game.

Our president is an admitted sports fan.  He learned the lessons of Belichick and Riley.  Just keep hitting the public with outrageous tax after outrageous policy after outrageous decision and soon we will stop calling him on it.  Remember the outrage when the stimulus package was passed with no Republican support?  Followed by an outright takeover of the largest automaker in the nation?  Followed by "the police acted stupidly" comment?  Followed by an "apology tour" of the middle east?  Followed by the health care takeover?  Followed by public condemnation of Arizona's "misguided" immigration law (that neither he nor his attorney general had yet read)?  Followed by a lack of interest in helping the Louisiana governor prepare for the arrival of oil from the worst environmental accident in U.S. history?  Followed by a drilling moratorium that will cost the same regions affected by the spill thousands of jobs and millions of dollars?  Now, about to be followed by a cap and trade, energy independence, clean energy, whatever they are calling it today, legislation that will effectively take over the energy industry in the country.   Rumored to soon be followed by turning against Israel and its right to defend itself against terrorist neighbors. 

We are the referees.  We can't let this administration keep getting away with the violations of our rights and principles.  We've got to keep blowing the whistle until they stop.