In economics, a free market system where individuals pursuing their self-interest will somehow find a way to cooperate with one another and create a perfect system.
A free market system also works in all other aspects of our lives. “A society’s value, its culture, its social conventions – all these development in the same way, through voluntary exchange, spontaneous cooperation, the evolution of a complex structure through trial and error, acceptance and rejection.” The structures produced by voluntary exchange, whether they be language or scientific discoveries or musical styles or economic systems, develop a life of their own. Just look at Sheng, our local music (ngege, Kapungala etc), they have developed a life of their own for they allow the participants to contribute freely – and the others to use that contribution or reject it.
“Voluntary exchange is a subtle process whose general principles of operation can fairly readily be grasped but whose detailed results can seldom be foreseen” Milton Friedman
Just look at the evolution of technology – technological advances made last year are the basis of today’s development and today’s development will contribute to future developments. This is the beauty of a free market system.
Can you imagine if society allowed the government to determine all that is acceptable and what is not acceptable? Would all our peculiar habit, entertainment, business practices etc exist?
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