Thursday, May 14, 2009

Sometimes It Seems So Hopeless

So when I read about the FDA’s attack on Cheerios, I immediately posted it on the forum I regularly chat on.  I pretty much expected the response to be about how stupid and pointless this government action was, but I was surprised to find several supposedly conservative posters justify their actions.
Did get on the wrong elevator and end up in a different world where Leonard Nimoy is the head of a multi-planetary company and apparently has all the answers of life, the universe, and everything?
I get so disheartened when I see people who claim the conservative mantle yet turn around and defend various unconstitutional agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration, because they provide necessary services.  Since when was security and protection a conservative ideal?
Ayn Rand wrote about the default of conservatism.  You can read about it in her book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.  While I have my disagreement with the late Ms. Rand on several points, her essay entitled The Anatomy of Compromise was probably a piece that needs to be read by every person who claims the mantle of conservatism.  In it, she discusses why conservatism never gains any real traction once conservatives are voted in to high office.
The reaction I have seen to the FDA’s outright harassment of General Mills from conservatives demonstrates that for many, their conservative ideology is nothing more than a tool to beat the Democrats.  This is nothing short of hypocrisy and also tells us that many conservatives are not capitalists.
This is really why I no longer claim the title of conservative.  I cannot associate with a group of people who do not acknowledge that the free market always does it better.  The FDA is an outdated organization whose function can be done in the free market much more efficiently and at much less a cost to the consumer.  To not acknowledge this simple fact is downright anti-capitalist and frankly unpatriotic.
What the FDA is doing to General Mills is essentially protecting a pharmaceutical company (or companies) from competition.  It is silly, since most people know that prescription drugs work far better than cereal at reducing cholesterol.  But still, it is clear that the FDA wants to classify a cereal as a drug or suppress a legitimate marketing technique in order to protect the interests of a large pharmaceutical company.
This is not the spirit of capitalism and clearly the FDA has demonstrated how foolish and pointless their agency really is.  What we need is a free market solution, not more regulation and oversight.
Sadly, conservatives are really just behaving like most of other Americans in defending age-old, failing programs that do nothing to advance the cause of conservatism or capitalism.