The Free Market: Allegory
In a message to the Politech mailing list, James Lewis says, ``In a perfect market, the private sector would purchase adequate security and firms would offer the products needed for it.'' ``Perfect market'' is a loaded term, however; what James apparently really means is that in his perfect market, such security-purchasing would occur. Probably he basis this on a belief that people actually want security. What if they don't? Does a ``perfect market'' still provide security products? Of course not. Clearly, then, the idea that there is a ``perfect'' market is flawed, unless there are perfectly uniform desires.
Free Market as Proxy for Feelings
Really what James is saying is that in a perfect world, most people would want security and in that same perfect world, there would be people willing and able to supply this security. Which is to say that James thinks that people should want security. It seems to me that it would much faster and more direct to just explain this straight away: ``I, James, think the Great Unwashed should want security''. We can substitute ``security'' for almost anything else: apples, newspapers, washing machines. Whatever the product or service, if one supposes that ``a perfect market'' should provide it, one is doing nothing more than suggesting what they think people should want. Maybe people don't want security; maybe they don't want apples. In claiming to know what a ``perfect'' market would provide, one is just arrogantly presuming to know what motivates people and what their desires are. Maybe one is right, but why not come straight out and say it: people want security! People wants apples!