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Destructive value assumptions: The "moral" premises of our corporate industrial society are (1) people are by nature motivated by greed, (2) the drive to acquire material wealth is the highest expression of what it means to be human, (3) the relentless pursuit of greed and acquisition leads to socially optimal outcomes, and (4) it is in the best interest of all human societies to promote, encourage, honor, and reward these values. This is the essence of the value assumptions underlying contemporary market theory. Economic policies driven by these deeply flawed moral premises create a self-destructing outcome by rewarding dysfunctional behaviors that are deeply detrimental to the healthy functioning of society. We have long-standing habits of believing that all nature is human property, and so we take land and resources from one another for reasons of profit, of personal gain. The profit motive is so ingrained in Western society that scientists have actually criticized nature on the grounds of unprofitable efficiency. We fail to realize that maximizing human profits minimizes human social stability and welfare and destroys our natural life-support system. If we hope to survive as a species, we need to change our belief systems and our lifestyles.
Destructive exploitation: It's an undeniable fact the corporation and modern political state have been consolidating massive economic resources into a small number of centrally controlled institutions. They have brought the full power of capital-intensive technologies to bear in exploiting the World's natural and human resources so that a small minority of the World's people could consume far more than their rightful share of the World's limited wealth. Economic globalization has served to advance this exploitation of the Earth's social and environmental systems beyond their limits of tolerance by freeing errant corporations from restraints to their growth and allowing them to monopolize ever larger markets. Global corporate wealth allows use of economic power to win political concessions that allow them to pass on to the community ever more of the costs of their production. Globalization has delinked corporations and financial markets from accountability to any public jurisdiction or interest, has contributed to a massive concentration of financial power, and richly rewarded those who place the values of acquisition, competition, and self-interest ahead of values of simplicity, cooperation, and sharing.
Free market extremism: Contrary to what the market extremists say and to what the government control extremists say, we are not restricted to making a choice between either a completely free, uninterfered with, market economy or a government centrally controlled economy, We are not limited to choosing between free markets or government. We must realize that government and markets are interdependent functions necessary for a well balanced healthy society. The penchant of free market extremists for "self-regulation" rather than government oversight has very little credibility in fact. Companies and corporations, like children, will inevitably misbehave if left to themselves. Due to greed, the very principles necessary for a healthy free market are eventually violated, leading ultimately to corporate monopolies, thus corrupting the so-called free market into nonexistence.
Free market inconsistencies: Free market extremists require that all aspects of a society, all functions, products and services, be privatized. This requirement of the free market extremists violates the basic operating principles necessary for a viable competitive free market to function. Not all activities of a society are amenable to privatization. For any free market to work efficiently there must be many competitors and the ability to enter the market by others. However, many functions necessary to a healthy society are not amenable to privatization. These nonmarketible functions are called natural monopolies. Some natural monopoly functions as water, electric, sewage, roads and highway systems, cannot be supplied efficiently at minimum cost by many private firms. It would create waste in the form of multiple overlapping supply line systems. These functions must of necessity be performed by public operated entities. These government operated entities would naturally be integrated into the free market system in terms of the acquisition of equipment and supplies necessary for their creation and operation.
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