The Problem with Private Power

Much rancor is caused by misunderstanding. The nature of control in a political sense is a subject that seems to get people arguing past each other quite a bit. I think that there are two camps at each other’s throats that basically agree on the same thing; that, fundamentally, is individual control of one’s decisions. (Using the old distinctions . . . . ) Those on the Right are worried about bureaucratic power. Simple, basic decisions that must be approved by a faceless functionary with no stake in the matter seem inefficient at best and at worst unjust. Unless you buy into some ethereal concept of a Rousseauian “General Will,” it’s hard to justify transferring decision-making (also “resource-distributing”) power to a distant minister, regardless how well intentioned. Decisions of state are less efficient, are less reasonable, and are subject to unrelated interests and concerns. This is just the structure of decisions made through a collective process or those that must be guaranteed equitable and defensible. It’s an understandable fear to surrender control to someone you (as an individual) didn’t agree to and have no way to circumvent.

The Left fears something else, something I’m going to christen “Private Power.” This is the undiscussed concept that wrecks so many voyages of understanding. The system (market, what have you,) is supposed to work in a free and independent way: mutually assenting decisions made by unfettered parties for mutual understanding. That’s the theory, and when it works that way it’s beautiful. The problem comes in initial position and what one might call “transaction costs.” Way too often agreements are not free: they are either made under duress or in a hurry, or are misrepresented, or purposefully obfuscated, or in some other way removed from the mutual consent that’s supposed to be the essential in the system. Sure, it’s a “free” labor market, only the laborer won’t be hired if he actually negotiates (or even inquires about) terms and conditions, and has no real access to various offers to compare between. Before the advent of the internet (and only in the tiniest way now,) there was no way to compare wages and locations and descriptions without going from company to company and begging for information after humiliating “screening” steps. Add to this “company policies” which are undisclosed prior to the agreement, and subject to one-sided change at any time. This is not a free market. It’s not even close. If working out some kind of a deal is essential in order to eat (and especially get health care. Has anyone ever actually tried to negotiate coverage?) then each barrier of timing and information can be the insuperable factor that forces acceptance of a bad and largely unknown agreement.

Unfree labor is just an example of the nefarious influence of Private Power. The streets are rife with intimidation, confusion, and subtle threats to control those least able to access resources and assistance. It is unjust when the police insinuate that it’s either an unwarranted search or unspecified bad actions (public power,) it is also unjust when someone’s told that they’ll be blackballed for refusing to go along with horrible practices, or that their children won’t be able to get medication unless they sign that report, or that nobody in this organization believes in that way (private power.) Fraud, intimidation, subterfuge, and double-dealing are morally wrong whether they are practiced by individuals or institutions. This is not Free Enterprise. It is, however, much of what the Left decries under the name of “capitalism.” Confusing the one for the other has been destructive for decades.

What the Right has to understand is that there are real and pressing concerns here that must be addressed. Fraud, deception, and forced decisions must be eliminated in order for the system to remain free. They are not a necessary part of free commerce in a free society, and are not to be (albeit often accidentally) defended as part of the system. If Private Power is not restrained, then anger and resentment will build to a point where all will be subjected to Public Power.

Think about that.