Adam Smith is Rolling in His Grave!

Is the “free enterprise system” that brought fame to Adam Smith and his revolutionary book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of the Nations” what we are witnessing today? Obviously the market is no longer free and almost every trade is monopolized by a few chains and conglomerates. Mr. Smith also spoke of “invisible hands”. In spite of the governments’ attempts to hide its hands, they have been visible for the past few years! People are very much aware of the governments’ pouring taxpayers’ money into Wall Street in order to keep corrupt companies afloat. In fact, the system that Mr. Smith and Mr. Ricardo and others introduced in the late 18^th century could never work without the help of the government. You are asking why and how?! It is easy to figure it out. The government distributed land to those selected, and tradesmen were cajoled into factories as "employees". You may say it was peoples’ own choice to work for companies. Let us make it more clear with an example. Next time you are at your auto mechanic’s shop, the one you have been using for a long time because of his expertise, ask him this question: would you close your shop down and find employment in the assembly line of a factory, where you would repeatedly work only on a small section of the engine, or a part of what you are currently engaged in, and in a daily basis? You will not have the benefit of being your own boss, but you get paid in regular basis without worrying about when and how the next customer would bring some business to you. He will accept the challenge if he is not as good in his trade as you thought he was! From the very beginning of the new market system, labor was forced by the government from small shops or from farming fields into factories. Today, the same government destroys any unions workers have established, but industry owners and directors can easily and openly have their own unions under or followed by titles such as Chamber of Commerce, guild, association, league, or society. They have openly created a union with government officials under the nickname ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), funded by Koch brothers, who have meetings this very week. The unity between workers is crushed in all levels. Since industrialists can get together and set prices in unison, you notice that when the price of gas in one gas station is raised, every other station in town is raising its price by the same ratio. You hear a rise in the price of bread, milk, cereal, meat, …., and other necessary products. You do not hear the price of a certain brand of milk, for instance, is raised, but they are all raised at the same time, in proportion to the original prices. So, let me see now; what happened to the price being determined by competition?