The financial markets are the powerhouse they are because generally speaking, anyone can trade stocks they want. A person can read the news, and think about the future and suppose `X corporation has a great future, because we will need their product' or you can read a companies financials and realize they are a house of cards ready to fall. You can make decisions on buying and selling stock quite intelligently. When the whole market is doing the same, markets can allocate resources quickly efficiently, and shift to new products without having to collaborate with anyone else. The net effect of everyone making their own decisions, in their own interests is very effective.

My hypothesis is that the free market does not make a free nation, but free speech does.

The reason the west is having a terrible time right now, is only periferally due to market forces, the root of the problem truly lies in the lack of free speech.

Historically, the west has had a wonderful participation with free speech. There were conferences on various subjects with speakers who held one view, and others who held another, and communication amongst all the parties, sides and interests were abundant. In the media, the same variety of viewpoints existed. There were conservative newspapers, liberal, socialist ones too. Even within a particular newspaper you could find opposing viewpoints. It was this dialogue between the sides that eventually worked its way to find a common ground and resolution, much like the markets search to find a valuation of a stock.

Now, however, there is no debate. If you do not agree completely with side X you are are shouted down as being a side Y-supremesist, and vice versa. Conferences cancel due to external pressure, debate is not permitted. In Canada, they tried to organize a policy discussion group on the conflict in the Ukraine. The hosts had to cancel out of `respect for the ukrainian community' they eventually held it in park, where protesters who neither spoke english or french (foreign agitators?) would not allow anyone to speak. The media are all playing the same tune, and even accept money from the regime to continue playing it. When you cannot get reliable information about an issue, how can you resolve it? Powerful players want to keep certain issues from being resolved so they fund initiatives to squash ideas that does not support them.

My point in all this is that an important part of a free nation is free speech. If you cannot talk amongst your fellow citizens and find a way forward, you are not a free country, and will not get the benefits of being one. So many problems lay unresolved and fester, instead of moving on to the next challenge. The country will just keep spinning its wheels.

Osito

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Now, however, there is no debate. If you do not agree completely with
side X you are are shouted down as being a side Y-supremesist, and vice versa. Conferences cancel due to external pressure, debate is not permitted. In Canada, they tried to organize a policy discussion group

Quite right, especially in the colleges and universities. If you're pro-life or anti-homosexual you get shouted down by people that only want one side of an issue represented. Its like you either follow the student association's line or get shouted down. It's not fair, nor is it beneficial. I remember when I went to college back in the day they even held a "sex show" where you could be exposed to "toys," "books," and all sorts of things used to corrupt the students. LGBT+ stuff was widely promoted, and marriage between one man and one women was laughed at; everything was pleasure now, ignore the possible consequences or deal with them later. In some colleges the student representatives themselves promote destructive behavior because "its fun" or "if you're not hurting anyone than what does perversion matter?"

We are no longer a Christian nation, at least not in today's youth...

Thinking that we need a revival, while its still possible...
-warmfuzzy

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I agree with everything you said. having seen so many of the same things locally lately, i think we still have time for a revival, but the great apostasy and the false teachers are well underway in their own goals.

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