Free market failed

I was fascinated to read Star Parker's column (April 6) about the demise of Social Security and how government intervention in either social or business concerns always lays an egg. Two sentences were particularly enlightening. "It is impossible for bureaucrats to keep pace with a dynamic world. Only free markets can do that, which is why they work so well."

Hmm. In essence, Parker is offering as a solution to our social and business woes the very mechanism that created the mess in the first place.

The free market (unfettered by government interference, regulation, or taxes) does only one thing well: It creates an increasing gap between the haves and have-nots. That is its inherent design. The free market is what lies at the heart of all the economic and social woes we are now experiencing. It solves none of them.

Why can't the conservatives come up with something realistic? Perhaps conservatives ought to consider replacing corporate capitalism with true capitalism, based on small businesses and worker-owned cooperatives that will serve to equalize wealth and opportunity in society. Unfortunately, neither party is addressing the real illness. They are just mistreating symptoms they do not understand.

Roger Terry

Orem