Years ago I dated a lady that was so far left that I suspected she could defy gravity. She was not just a leftist, she was an antagonistic superficial spiritualist who spouted Howard Zinn like a firehose sprinkler.
She got angry at me one afternoon because we disagreed about the merits of business ownership and entrepreneurship. She was certain that I wanted to fix up my Nissan 240 so that I could speed by the homeless. Her opinion of my long hours at work were expressed in the accusation that I “worshipped money”.
I told her that I had helped more people in the last year than she had in several years combined…Because I did not take money from others to give to those in need. “Free markets” I said, “offer people a currency that Socialism has never even seen. Opportunity.”
“So, celebrate your greed then!” She said throwing her recycled, knit cap against the dashboard.
I actually thought deeply about that idea. I loved it.
Now, I am not saying that I want to literally celebrate greed. What I was considering was a celebration of the free market. Not just any celebration, though. No, this would have all of the power of a concert, the education of a first rate college, and the feel of a down home fair. I worked on that idea for months and months.
Then I had the plan.
The Frea Market. No, that isn’t a typographical error. It is actually intended to convey the feel of a Flea Market. You know, those roadside stops wherein your neighbor sells his bowling ball, his homemade fishing lures, and his signed velvet Elvis wall decor? Recall the place that features the lady that pedals essential oils in front of an array of reflexology posters?
Weird way to sell an idea? Maybe. I think this speaks to the fact that everyone has a place in the Frea Market…and the free market. But I digress.
The Frea Market would be held at campgrounds. It would be laid out like a tiny city. The names of free market advocates would mark the streets of this city. On these streets would be the businesses.Those businesses would be in booths rented by average Joe’s selling wares, crafts, and worn-out wonders. Each booth would cost the vendor a preset lease. On each booth would be locked boxes into which small amounts of “seed money” could be placed. This would be investment into future participation of chosen vendors. Of course, making purchases would be a great incentive, too.
On top of this, Food and games might be offered, for a price, throughout the Frea Market. These, too, would be leased footprints and booths. Between booths and kiosks, information about great successes in capitalism would be displayed in various ways.
Concerts would draw crowds to this event. In order to get its feet wet, The Frea Market would need to start with local talent (discriminating taste guiding the way) playing for the crowd. Having a decent mix of genre might help the Frea Marketshare expand a bit.
Speakers could tell us about the history of free market capitalism, entrepreneurs who redefined success, and ways to find successes of our own. They might sell books, site memberships, etc.
Those that fight to maintain such a free and powerful system of exchange could, herein, also receive the pat on the back that they deserve.
Job fairs would be an integral part of the Frea Market experience. Businesses could sponsor and recruit within the Frea Market in designated areas.
This being a time in which fear drives people to hide in the most unpopulated areas of their houses, it may take a while for someone to use such an idea (if ever). Still, this may be a time to make connections, build plans, and make such a thing happen.
Yes, Dan’s Bake Sale did some of this. Yes, a fair does this…vaguely. It is the massaging that the latter lacks, and sustained function that the former lacked.
If anyone were to find interest, by all means try it out.
2 replies on “An Idea I Cannot Forget”
“So, celebrate your greed then!”
Why not?
Greed – n.: An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth.
In other words, to get more result for less time, less work, less expense. It can be argued that it’s only “greed” when it’s “excessive,” but “excessive” is an entirely subjective valuation, with no objective meaning whatever.
If you stop and think about it, every advance made by humans since we came down from the trees was the result of somebody thinking up a way to get more results for less time, less work, less expense.
Every. Single. One. No exceptions.
So my answer to anyone who rails against “greed” is to ask them if they resent the fact that they are not sitting naked in a tree somewhere, bashing their lunch against the trunk to make it stop struggling. Because every last step from the naked lunch-basher to the person screaming about greed to random strangers on the internet is the result of….
greed.
And we’re all the beneficiaries of it. Even “an antagonistic superficial spiritualist who spouted Howard Zinn like a firehose sprinkler.”
I agree. I think the evil comes from wanting what belongs to others without earning the free and willing transfer of said goods.
That was a strawberry blonde that was anything but sweet. I’m not sure what I was thinking.