Are you trying to think at all with these comments, Gerald, or is this some sort of absurdist rhetorical performance art where we should leave you to your muse?

Not quite. Any society may have a small group of rotten selfish knaves in charge of the government (though I think even this tends to vary). Mercifully, however, in a free society the people in charge of the government are not really in charge, however much they might want to think so.

I would put it a little differently. At whatever the level of virtue of a society, a society is likely to do better if it has largely free markets than if it does not. This, however, is not to say that the flourishing of a society depends a great deal on the virtue of its populace. Capitalism won’t work as well in a society where people are rotten, selfish, knaves as it will in a society of kind, conscientious gentlemen. But if you have a society full of rotten selfish knaves, putting a small group of rotten selfish knaves in charge of everything doesn’t strike me as being a good idea.

So, nowhere, in essence. :)

It should be obvious that safeguards are needed to protect the weaker from the stronger to some degree. Exploitation is the basic human condition, but it can be Euro-style, you get wined and dined first or US-style, where you were “asking for it”. It also should be obvious that people with a gambling problem should not be given free reign over world finance and that a 1:35 ratio belongs at the roulette table.

If I’m taking him correctly, it would seem that he’s arguing that the same cultural instincts result in people being both unwilling to take unfair advantage of government social programs and also unwilling to pursue business policies which result in those at the very top of the pyramid making off with a disproportionate share of the wealth created. It’s this sense of general responsibility and fair dealing which results in both generous social programs and very free markets being embraced.

I find that pretty convincing, and also a laudable end state. Though I can’t help feeling that such a culture is probably a hard thing to attain if you don’t have it already — and potentially also is rather fragile.

It would seem to reenforce the Robert Novack observation that capitalism can only flourish in a society with strong moral principles.

Well, the US does have statist economic policies, though admittedly they could be worse.