Bear with me here. I am not here to tell you that Mitt Romney is more anti-capitalist than Barack Obama. They are both anti-capitalism, but that is beside the point. The bottom line is that nothing will change over the next four years regardless of which guy wins. Mitt Romney is a crony-capitalist. This means that he advocates for government subsidies and bailouts to certain corporations. Barack Obama borders on a socialist, which means that he would like the government to posses most of your money and distribute it how they see fit. Both of these philosophies are anti-free market. Neither is worse than the next. However, I am here today to show you why a Mitt Romney presidency would be worse for the free market. I am not telling you to vote for Obama. I suggest you vote neither. Like I said, bear with me, and I will show you.
I was listening to the most recent episode of the Peter Schiff Show on iTunes yesterday. Peter, whom I consider the second most intelligent man on economics, right behind Doctor Paul, was talking about the differences between the two candidates. He was talking about how each candidate brands their economic theory differently, but in practice they are both anti-free market. Of course, Romney repeats the term "free markets" over and over again. Then, it dawned on me (and Peter as well) that a Romney presidency is the worst case scenario.
You see, a President Romney would be similar to a President Bush. Bush expanded the size and scope of government. He increased regulations, bailed out the banks, an increased the deficit. This is all under the name of conservative economic theory. However, it isn't conservative economic theory, as I have pointed out. It is a progressive economic theory that is similar to President Obama's. In 2008, Obama ran for President calling for more government intervention in the economy. His reason for this: capitalism caused the collapse. Capitalism didn't cause the collapse. Crony-capitalist socialism caused the collapse. 2008 was a bad year for capitalism because it was wrongly blamed for the collapse.
Now, fast forward to 2012. Our economy is sure to continue to slouch. Everyone knows that the next four years are going to be a rough time for the economy. If Obama wins re-election, this will happen under his watch. This will prove that socialism does not work in fixing the economy. If Romney is President, it will happen under his watch. It will happen because he, too, is a crony-capitalist socialist. However, what did he promise in the debates? Capitalism. So in 2016 everyone will once again blame the situation on capitalism, despite the situation being caused by the attack on free markets. Do you see it now?
This is a hazardous scenario that we are in. We have the two main parties, neither practicing free markets, destroying the economy. It's almost like a Broadway show. One guy comes in, screws everything up under a guise, and then the guy who admits he is a bad guy (as opposed to the disguised guy) is able to triumph the screwing as the solution.
Now, imagine a different scenario. Imagine a scenario in which everyone is honest. Imagine a scenario in which you have two parties: Austrians vs. Keynesians. The Keynesians come in and wreck everything, and then people turn to capitalism, like they are now. This time, though, the Austrians, real capitalists, come in and fix everything. Now, the country is prosperous and capitalism can no longer be blamed as a bad thing. This is why an Obama victory would be better. If the collapse is coming, which we all know it is, wouldn't it be better to have people blaming it on what it really is?
Thank you for sticking with me. If you read this far, you listened to my "bear with me" message. I hope you can see this idea. Indeed, this year is a "critical election," as the media calls it. But, this is not a critical choice between Obama and Romney or socialism and capitalism. It is a critical choice between our course and a different course. It is a choice between what we have now, two crony-capitalist socialists, or a new day. A day in which our two choices represent real differences. Join with me this year, regardless of your political affiliation, in condemning the lack of choice. Again, thank you for bearing with me.
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