Our Free Market That Isn't  

     We think of our nation as a "market economy," an example for the world to follow. 

     But in truth, our society has been shaped by a collectivist mentality. Everywhere we turn, our lives are regulated and shaped by every level of government - all supposedly for the common good. 

     In all situations, someone wasn't content just to let market forces do their thing. Someone was always jumping in, "Let's give market forces a little extra help." 

     Implicit in all those governmental efforts is the sense that government has enough intelligence to do it better than the market would by itself. Maybe that's why we're not left with a notable example of a free-market model that we can all view. 

     In the United States we haven't been close - for several generations - to creating a test case for a market economy. At best, it's a blend, and in recent years, a blend tilting toward collectivism rather than freedom. 

Who said all this?  

     The above is from a magazine column by Joel Belz in 2012, during the Obama administration, which advanced the collectivist playbook to more aspects of life.

     Belz wrote that the free market model "simply isn't there for inspection, not in Havana, not in the United States, and apparently nowhere else."