In this age of looming pandemics and possible financial collapse, it behooves us think about our country's ongoing transformation from being a nation-state to becoming a market-state. The process is further along than you may realize.
The market-state concept was popularized by the books of Phillip Bobbitt. Here is the concise definition he gave:
The “market-state” is the latest constitutional order, one that is just emerging in a struggle for primacy with the dominant constitutional order of the 20th century, the nation-state. Whereas the nation-state based its legitimacy on a promise to better the material well-being of the nation, the market-state promises to maximize the opportunity of each individual citizen.
One way to visualize what a market-state will be like is to review the powers of Congress which are specified in Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution (http://constitutionus.com/#a1s8). Many of those powers already are being taken over by corporations, the major players of the market-state.
But the process will go well beyond things like privatizing the US Post Office. Here are some comparisons which should clarify what I mean:
1. In a nation-state such as the US, the government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.
In a market-state the government is granted whatever powers its corporate sponsors deem it should have.
2. In a nation-state each human life has intrinsic value.
In a market-state human life is a commodity which has no intrinsic value.
3. In a nation-state citizens mutually pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
In a market-state everyone is on their own.
4. A nation-state defends it borders to protect its citizens.
A market-state considers borders to be impediments to trade, and tears them down.
5. In a nation-state suspected disease carriers are quarantined to prevent epidemics.
In a market-state dangerous organisms are just another commodity which can move about freely in the marketplace.
6. A nation-state protects its currency and its businesses to ensure the stability of its economy.
A market-state considers currencies to be just another commodity, and it gives the businesses of its citizens the same status as all other businesses anywhere in the world.
Get the picture?
The "market-state" being created in the US will be an anti-Christian, non-humanitarian abomination in which we all allegedly will have "opportunities", but in which no one (especially the rich) will have any responsibilities toward their neighbors.
In the full implementation of the market-state paradigm, there will be no Social Security, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no CHIP Program, no WIC Program, no food stamps ... no social welfare of any kind. Cash only, and if you have no cash you truly will be a useless eater as far as the market-state is concerned. It will be the ultimate expression of the concept of people as a commodity.
Heaven forbid we should ever permit such a thing to happen.
But you know what? It's right around the corner. And it's coming no matter who sits in the White House.
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