Markets & Generosity

Markets and Generosity Tibor R. Machan A frequent though quite unjustified charge against free markets is that they encourage what Karl Marx called the cash nexus or, as it is also put, commodification, treating people as items for sale. The claim is that when people engage in commerce, they are hardhearted, stingy, or as the Oliver Stone and OWS crowd would have it, greedy. But this is a complete distortion. It’s been with us for centuries, starting with how Plato depicted merchants in the Republic, namely, as the lowest rung of humanity, only concerned about the bottom line. Marx made it one of his key criticism of capitalism, namely, that the right to private property is a defense of selfishness. But the claim is very imprecise. The right to private property does secure for one the freedom to make use of one’s life, liberty and property as one judges fit. Yet this can involve distributing one’s labor and resources for charitable purposes, as is well demonstrated by the vast sums wealthy people give away to others. What the critics resent is that they do not get to dictate to those with property rights, that property rights secure people’s liberty to determine how they will act, what they will do with what belongs to them. The critics want to be in charge of everyone’s wealth, which is why they support the public ownership of resources, the means of production, with the concomitant policy that the state, who would of course be the critics, gets to say to what end those means will be dedicated. Anyway, just a few examples of how those in markets are often the farthest thing from greedy can help one appreciate how wrong the critics are about people whose property rights are secure. Not only do some very wealthy people freely part with their wealth for purposes such as helping the poor or the sick or supporting the arts and sciences. In the market place, right where commerce is supposed to have replaced generosity with greed, there are many instances of helpful conduct. I often find that the tiny screws in my eye glasses get loose when I travel and I then seek out a shop where glasses are sold and repaired and ask for help with my problem. Invariably, really, when I ask what the charge is for getting this service, I am waved away with the remark that there will be no charge at all. And this kind of thing happens all over the free market place! It refutes the charge that market processes drive out other forms of human interaction. Indeed, in markets friendships are created, even romance is sparked. The idea that human beings in markets cannot take their eyes off the buck is bunk. Anyone making such a claim must be either ignorant or desperately bent on demeaning human freedom, just as Marx did when he said that the right to property corrupts us to do nothing but act greedily. The fact is that people multitask in markets. They have many different motivations they can fulfill. Yes, mostly in markets they attempt to strike a good economic deal but that’s only a small part of the story. Just as people at a party do not simply seek to have fun but now and then will search out professional advice and even an economic opportunity or two, so in the forums were the main focus is advancing one’s economic well being, to strive to prosper, they often take a break and do something very different. Not to acknowledge this reveals rank prejudice, not any kind of grasp of how things work in the market place.