FREE MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM IS A KILLER

In just a couple of days, the state mandate requiring the wearing of masks will be kaput. And, for the first time in a year, all businesses will be allowed to open at 100% of capacity. All of this in a state where COVID has snatched the breath out of more than 43,00 residents, with Black and Brown bodies being disproportionately represented amongst the dead. All of this in a state where only 8.2% of the population has been fully vaccinated. All of this in a state that, as of a few days ago, had one of the worst per capita vaccine distribution. All of this--despite warnings from the scientific and medical community that such a move was premature and potential deadly. All of this, as a new and more contagious variants spread across the country.

Seems crazy. Like playing with fire and risking getting burnt by the last thing we need--a surge at a time when we seem to be getting closer to finally turning the corner. But, to hear Governor Abbott tell it, it's time to make the move of letting the masks go missing; it's time to let businesses have the option of packing the joint. It's time. Despite the pleadings from the medical community to stay masked up, get more and more people vaccinated, and wait it out for a few more months.

But Abbott ain't having it.

And he's made that abundantly clear. Not only no more masks but all business ventures--including sporting events, clubs, bars, restaurants, and concerts-- are free to fill every single seat available. In just a few days, Texas will become the most populous state not to have a mask mandate.

I can't stress enough that this is a risky move and could potentially result in some unnecessary deaths. That the governor does not seem to be bothered by this is, well, bothering. I've read stuff, and heard some people, openly express the sentiment that, "he's trying to kill us." But as much as I detest the Governor's politics, I don't think that, before he hits the sack each night, he spends a few moments trying to figure out how many folks he can wipe out come morning. People may very well die unnecessarily from this gambit. But they'll die for the same reason that we experienced a power outage a few weeks ago: The ideology that folk like Abbott adheres to--market fundamentalism-- can be deadly, and that's especially so amid a pandemic.

MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM AND FREEDOM

Here's the quick and dirty on market fundamentalism: It's the unshakeable faith in the ability of perfectly competitive markets--markets free of any of governmental intrusion-- to solve our most pressing economic and social problems. Devotees of market fundamentalism imagine a utopia wherein we are nothing more than a goo gob of individuals, with each one of us free to pursue our goals and where our own individual freedom is equated to absolute and personal autonomy. According to this mindset, government' scope is confined to the protection of private property, contract enforcement, and the provision of national defense.

Quick example: You and your market fundamentalist friend are discussing unemployment. You think that it's a good thing to provide some coins to the unemployed to help tide them through bouts of joblessness. Your friend, however, ain't having it. Buddy's not down with providing cash to the jobless because he believes that, in the absence of "interference," workers will eventually reduce their "asking" or "reservation" wage and, eventually, a wage will be reached where the number of people seeking jobs will exactly equal the number of folk employers want to hire. In fact, according to your market fundamentalist friend, putting cash in the pockets of the unemployed will do nothing to solve joblessness; with those coins in their pockets, they now have the wherewithal to chill and turn their noses up at what jobs are available. Best to not to put a safety net under them and just let the logic of the market to work its magic. Let them miss a few meals and ultimately a so-called equilibrium wage involuntary joblessness will disappear. Anybody who is still jobless after that is simply a person who prefers a leisure over work. The worst thing that can happen, according to the market fundamentalist mind set, is for you--or government-- to infringe upon the freedom of individuals to strike deals that are supposedly in the interest of all parties.

So, what's this got to do with Governors' Abbott decision to let Texas residence toss their masks, and Texas businesses to pack the place? Well, plenty. The central claims of market fundamentalism are part and parcel of the governor's well-being. The blind faith in the magic of the market. The conviction that government "intervention" is a recipe for jacking things up. And--and this is what I want to emphasize here-- Abbott is all gassed up about how state mandates requiring folks to put a mask on their mug, and businesses to abide by capacity limits, is an unwarranted intervention into the market and an attack upon human freedom. Imposing mask mandates is cut from the same cloth as mandating a livable wage. Or placing regulations on financial markets. Or demanding that state's energy grid is "protected" against federal interference. Or....

So, it's not exactly surprising that Abbott at least partially justifies rescinding the mask mandate by explicitly referencing the highly individualized notion of freedom that is at the heart of free market fundamentalism. "We no longer need government running our lives." That's what he said. Leave it up to individuals to decide for themselves whether or not to mask up their mugs. Leave it to businesses to decide whether or not they'll toss capacity limits. When government "interferes" with what should be personal or private decisions, government is trying to run stuff. And when somebody or something tries to run your stuff, they're making you "unfree."

MASKS AS AN ETHIC OF SOLIDARITY

So, what's the big deal? What's wrong with allowing individuals to decide whether or not to don a mask? Why shouldn't a particular business be free to decide whether or not to give a pass to patrons who don't want to mask up? I mean, after all, the Governor is not forcing people to do anything. All he's doing, to hear him tell it, is making sure that Big Buddy is not trying to run your stuff.

The problem is that free market fundamentalism’s individualized conception of justice exposes the population to possibility of contracting COVID, getting sick, or possibly even dying. The problem is that, rather than being separate and autonomous entities, our existence is characterized by social interconnectedness. And if anything reveals the folly of a highly individualized view of freedom, it's a pandemic. As a couple of political-economists note: "Contagion, by its very nature, thrives on social connectedness." That we are connected, that we're not simply a goo-gob of individuals, means that public health efforts must always begin with the undeniable fact that, like it or not, we're all connected. Mandates to wear masks is one of the ways in which we recognize and respect that interconnectedness. When a pandemic hits, mandating that businesses limit their capacity is one of the ways in which we express, promote, and protect the principle of solidarity.

When I mask up, I'm not protecting myself; I'm protecting you. And, likewise, when you mask up, you're not protecting yourself, you're protecting me. Abbott's adherence to free market fundamentalism is dangerous, especially right now. It makes a mockery of our social interdependence and runs the risks of prematurely pushing some folk to their graves.

Market fundamentalism is deadly. Especially in the midst of a pandemic!

Catch you on the flip side,

Doc Greene