When you say "the free market works" what do you mean?
In my opinion, the free market does not work for the general betterment of all people. In other words, if you let the free market run rampant, it won't enrich everybody, or even society as a whole.
Saying "the free market works" is just like saying "communism works". Sure, communism works- it works to impoverish and oppress people. Sure, the free market works- it works to enrich corporations and impoverish workers.
I don't think you can really argue that workers would be better off in a free market society compared to a more socialized society such as exist in western european countries. Seems to me that workers would be better off with socialized health care, and social safety net programs.
I would argue that business owners would be better off in a laissez faire free market society compared to a more socialized society.
I think the majority of society is workers, not business owners, and therefore the majority of society would be better off in a more socialized society compared to a free market society.
Saying the free market "works" doesn't really get to the heart of it. You have to explore or explain what a free market works to do.
While there are advantages and disadvantages to any economic system, it's important to explore those and understand them. A free market system is not perfect, neither is a more socialized system. Turning American society into a completely free market system would likely bring back the kind of social unrest and labor unrest that happened when we had such a system at the turn of the century- the 1890s. The free market is not a solution to all of society's issues.
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