economist I argue that those who call dumping laws “communist” are wrong. At least three-quarters of American states have dumping laws, whether they are run by Democrats or Republicans.America’s anti-cheap laws are too light to be communist(April 22, 2024) In my opinion, those who use this derogatory term in this case are rather ignorant or sophists, but it is correct to classify them as collectivists.
Communism is a Marx-inspired ideology that relies on collective rather than individual choice to regulate society. (The Chinese government has abandoned Marx but not collectivism; it is a standard-bearer for it.) Price controls of all kinds, including more gradual and intermittent price caps, are certainly collectivist, but not necessarily communist. Communism is just one form of collectivism.
There are other forms of collectivism, including on the right, which explains the many price-gouging laws that permeate American states, and the Defense Production Act at the federal level. Implemented by the Federal Government, including during the (long-term) corona emergencyIn both the center-left and center-right (if we use the traditional axes), price gouging is a manifestation of humane collectivism. More extreme collectivist regimes impose more permanent, widespread, and arbitrary price controls.
Individualism stands in opposition to the different shades of collectivism of the left and right.From classical liberalism to the ideal of anarcho-capitalism–where individual choice has the prerogative to regulate a spontaneous or automated social order and to define a minimum ethics.There is no need to be afraid of the words “collectivism” and “individualism”; they define radical choices in political philosophy.
Of course, “price gouging” should be questioned. Your favorite manufacturer or chicken farmer is no more of a “price gouger” than an expensive babysitter or your own salary. Producers are willing to accept the price bid by their customers, and customers are willing to undercut the price bid by competing suppliers. Consumers are willing to gouge prices rather than have nothing they want. Many suppliers are willing to accept a lower price rather than exit the industry. No one is obligated to accept a price proposal, but everyone is obligated to accept state interference in their lives for fear of punishment. Market-determined prices serve to regulate individual behavior without coercion from authority. Nothing is perfect, but voluntary reciprocity through individual choice is generally preferable to prohibitions or obligations imposed by coercion.
Anthony de Jasay is a contrarian economist and political philosopher who defines himself as: Both (classical) liberals and anarchistsHe expressed the fundamental difference between collectivism (group choice) and individualism (individual choice) by defining liberalism as the superiority of the latter. Social contract, free riding):
Liberalism, by its structure, implies a broad presumption of separate determination of all matters that fit with roughly equal convenience both individual and collective choice.
