"Progressives" View Crisis as Opportunity

Matt Lewis | September 22, 2008 10:00 AM

An oft-quoted Chinese proverb says that crisis is opportunity. So it's probably not surprising that the imminent economic bailout will no doubt be used by Leftists as evidence that the Free Market does not work.

These opportunists see this crisis as an opportunity to fundamentally change our economic system (read, make is more socialistic). As liberal blogger Matthew Yglesias writes:

"This financial crisis is a great opportunity for progressives to gain some leverage over a set of economic problems that it’s normally difficult to devise a workable method of addressing."

Of course, this is ironic inasmuch as the crisis was not created by the free market, nor is the bailout an example of the free market. But then again, perception is reality.

Regardless, it is important to distinguish between merely being "pro-business" and being pro-free market. Too many conservatives link the two together, which is more often than not a mistake. In fact, big business is often the biggest proponent of socialist economics and corporate welfare -- maneuvers which are decidedly not free market approaches.