To start, I am a "fair trader". Not a "free trader".
To begin with I must provide a more comprehensive standard definition of socialism than I did earlier Here it is: Socialism is both an economic system and an ideology ( a set of fundamental political beliefs and principles) A socialist economy feature public/social and often state ownership of the means of production and organises the operation of the economy by central planning as opposed to market forces. As a political ideology, Socialism is grounded on a number of fundamental tenets, so in order to keep the post as brief as possible, I will only discuss principle which is most important and that is egalitarianism (and I will do that at the end of this post).
The state motto of New Hampshire is "
"LIVE FREE OR DIE"" The FREEDOM of the rational individual to act in accordance with his (moral) duty is the supreme value; it trumps justice because justice is contingent upon liberty.
Besides, how would the "fair trader" determine what is truly fair/just ? How would a shop keeper calculate what is the
FAIR PRICE to charge Mrs Smith when she wishes to purchase a pound of his pork sausages ?
The free market manages to determine fair prices for commodities very well. (And) a free market, capitalist economy can be relied upon to competently regulate itself MOST of the time. But, unfortunately, the system is not PERFECT; it is vulnerable to human and natural factors that can, in the worst case scenario, precipitate a destructive financial crisis. However such catastrophic financial crises as the Stock Market crash of 1929 (and the ensuing Great Depression), the Global Financial Crisis that was triggered in the US in 2008, and the havoc that the COVID19 virus pandemic could
POTENTIALLY bring to bear in the US, are relatively rare.
When this kind of "shit happens", i.e; a major economic crisis/disaster strikes, having the government
TEMPORARILY intervene to help treat the financial wounds that have been inflicted until they are properly healed and the market can get back up on its feet is certainly not "socialism on the march." I mean, because President Trump dispenses a financial stimulus to help a US economy that is battling the spread of a deadly virus (COVID-19), are you seriously suggesting that this means Trump is actually a socialist ? That all the years he spent working as businessman and making lots of money were just a clever covert he used to disguise the fact that he was really a crazy Marxist, a - "Red under the bed", determined to bring down the American government , etc ?
Generally speaking, free - market capitalism in the modern-era has been a tremendously successful economic system. Over the past century It has helped lift countless millions of individuals (from all over the world, in particular, from the Developing World) out of poverty and dramatically improved their prospects in all of the major domains of life activity: educational, occupational, social, etc. Likewise, in the West - let me use England as an example - life in the Victorian era was very harsh for the common, working man. The later was paid literally just a penny or two a day by his employer and in consequence, every aspect of his life was a gruelling struggle. For he and his family, there were no comforts or luxuries to be had;, purchases were strictly limited to just the bare, essential basics of: food; clothing; footwear and such like. Today, however, in the year 2020 thanks to capitalism, even a relatively lowly paid Blue-Collar worker in the West is able to buy advanced technology like: iPhones and lap-top computers; labour-saving domestic appliances such as microwave cookers and washing machines; he can also afford a reliable car or motorcycle; likewise entertainments like pop music concerts or the goods required for hobbies like, say, off-road, Mountain Bike riding or skiing or painting are affordable for use in his spare time; good , cheap food can be bought from an amazing range of restaurants, especially in America, and so on. In short, compared to his 19th - century. Victorian counterpart in England, the modern American working man of 2020 has a far, far greater quality of life. And this was all due to capitalism
NOT socialism !
Capitalism is not a perfect, fail-proof economic system, I know that. Moreover, since 1980 the dominant economic ideology in the West has been a rapacious version of capitalism called neo-liberalism. Neo-liberalism (or Market Fundamentalism) is an extreme economic doctrine which argues that the market can be trusted to competently regulate itself, and should be allowed to do so free from any intrusive government regulations. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 proved that that the theory of Neo-liberalism was profoundly flawed. Neo-liberalism is also responsible for generating the monumental income disparities that exist in the US between the so-called (super-rich/wealthy) "1%" and the average American citizen.
