What deleterious consequences does the free market have? And in what ways should the market be limited?
The market, left to itself, puts everything on sale; hence the problem of pornography. We don’t allow children to be sold – not yet: but we do allow them to be treated as market commodities when they are in the womb. It is very obvious, when you look at these facts, that the market is a good only when controlled by moral sentiment – as Adam Smith recognized. The market should be limited by laws reflecting the needs of the moral life. Certain things should be withdrawn from the market, in the way that religion has always tried to withdraw the aspects of human life on which the reproduction of society depends. Can the EU be reformed in a way that does not threaten national loyalties? Only by reducing or abolishing the Commission’s legislative powers. What about those parts of the world where a viable nation-state hasn’t yet come into being: in Africa, or Iraq for example, or even Belgium? Yes. The worst legacy of colonialism is the map, which defines as nation-states what are arbitrary c
