Free Choice

Choice Instead of Competition

Free choice is a necessary idea under the 4th Law or the law of fair exchange, and is always checked by the 3rd Law or the law of balance.

Unlike Economics which uses the word competition which implies something negative, as rivalry and fight, we use the word choice to mean options or decision.

Value is spread throughout society via exchange after passionate creators make their products and services which they choose themselves.

An easy example is the student choosing his course in university, or even choosing the school to study in, or even to choose whether to study or just go straight to work either as an employee or as a businessperson.

In all these choices, the invisible hand naturally works through the pleasures and pains from one’s choices.

These pleasures and pains direct him to the proper study or employment that matches his natural direction or interests.

Choice as a Beauty Contest

The freedom to have choice needs to be guaranteed by the government.

For example, the competitors in a beauty contest might not be equal in height, weight, skin color, or hair length, etc. Nevertheless, their freedom to be in the competition, to wear their costumes, show their skills, answer questions, should be guaranteed by the organizers.

Likewise, the judges should be allowed to choose who they think is most beautiful. A beauty contest that is rigged will not gain a large audience and will therefore lose the energy behind it.

This guarantee of freedom in commercial choice was removed by French economist JB Say through the concept of laissez faire from the Physiocrats which he corrupted to mean total deregulation. Because of this deregulation, some businesses were able to acquire their competitors, corner the supply, limit the choices of the people, and become too-big-to-fail.

It would be like a beauty contest where the organizers forced the judges to choose from 3 contestants out the dozens available.