The only way out of Iraq

The L.A. Times reports today that U.S. officials are taking a "more central and visible role" in mediating among the political factions in Iraq, after a period of leaving the Iraqis to settle their own problems without apparent U.S. involvement.

That's not going to work either.

The administration that spends so much time advocating freedom around the world doesn't really understand what's necessary to make it happen. They are rearranging the furniture in a house with a cracked foundation.

Freedom is not a magical gift from God. It is a condition that exists under a government of limited power.

The government of Iraq has virtually unlimited power because the oil industry is a state-owned enterprise. In fact, all the important industries in Iraq are state-owned enterprises.

What does this mean?

It means, if you're an Iraqi, that the people who control the reins of government control your job and your economic future.

This is a problem that cannot be solved by putting a fresh coat of paint on a schoolhouse.

How much freedom do you have at work? Can you lobby for the ouster of the person who signs your check? Sure you can, but it's generally not considered a good career move.

When everybody works for the government, nobody has any freedom. A guarantee of free speech is worthless if you know that one wrong word can cost you your livelihood. And you'd better be prepared to fight to the death to keep your people in power, or you're likely to starve.

That's why the only way out of Iraq, for the United States, is complete privatization of all of Iraq's state-owned enterprises.

That may create its own set of problems, with a few individuals becoming very wealthy thanks to relationships with government officials. But the oligarchs will not have an army or a police force or the power to throw individuals into prison. And the government will not control the job and economic future of every person in the country. Then the Iraqis will have the conditions necessary for freedom.

If you were raised to believe that freedom means "freedom from want" and "freedom from fear," you've been badly misled. Those are sweet-sounding phrases that really mean unlimited government power, and unlimited government power is exactly the opposite of freedom. The true foundation of freedom is private property. Read more about it here, in "A Plan to Get Out of Iraq: Blackstone's Fundamental Rights and the Power of Property."


Copyright 2005

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