Editor’s note: This is the first of a series of articles written by former Sen. Jim DeMint. You can read the introduction, “How The GOP Can Stop Being The Do-Nothing Party And Offer America A Vision To Vote For” here.
Americans have an incredible array of choices for food and consumer goods, but government monopolies in education, health care, and energy are ruining our lives.
In Milton Friedman’s classic book, Free to Choose, he describes the vision that accounts for America’s political and economic success:
“[W]e know of no society that has ever achieved prosperity and freedom unless voluntary exchange has been its dominant principle of organization.”
The true essence of freedom is when individuals can make their own choices about the things they value. And people have very different opinions about valuation. Free societies must respect the fact that people have very different views about what they want. By contrast, the notion that everyone should have the same things is a core principle of socialism.
Liberty flourishes when millions of people are free to choose between hundreds of products and services offered by many competitors. Unlimited choices are available when multiple providers compete to provide a wide variety of products and services at the best quality and value to meet the needs and wants of a diverse group of consumers. And when providers are forced to compete for customers, even greedy and unscrupulous people will work hard to give people what they want. This is not true for government services.
The outcomes of free markets are evident. We have seemingly infinite choices of grocery products, computers, cell phones, restaurants, retailers, and online supplies of virtually everything imaginable. The opposite is also evident when choices are limited by government or monopolies such as in education, health care, and energy.
Democrats insist most people cannot make good decisions about the education of their children or their health care. And they have falsely maintained that infrastructure-intensive services such as electricity or mass transit must be provided by the government or heavily regulated monopolies. Democrats have consistently promulgated the myth that free markets are unfair and discriminatory just because everyone doesn’t end up at the same destination with the same things.
The Democrat arguments were heard years ago about computers and telephone services. The average person was not capable of figuring out how to use a computer or a complicated cell phone. But as soon as personal computers and a variety of cell phones were available, people quickly figured them out. Today, even a 10-year-old can use a computer or cell phone — accessing dozens of apps and video games.
The lesson is clear: People will become experts about what matters to them when they are free to choose what they want.