Imagine If

Have you noted a lack of Occupy America in the media lately?  Apparently letting the protesters suffer bad weather in silence is the new policy.  Well, I won't forget them, and I hope you won't, either.  Any non-violent change takes a lot of time and dedication, but this change needs to come.

What change?

In theory a free market economy follows some basic, natural rules.  Should sole vendor Al sell rutabagas for $10 a pound, consumers must pay it or do without their rutabagas.  A high demand and limited supply of rutabagas let's Al sell them for as much as people will pay.  When vendor Bill sees how much Al is making on rutabagas, he finds a supplier and starts selling rutabagas for $10 a pound, too.

Poor Bill sees people still buying rutabagas from Al; consumers have habits.  Al is, in fact, getting more traffic and sales on all his products thanks to that reliable consumer habit.  Bill is stuck with rutabagas he can't sell that will soon rot and turn into a loss!

To avoid a disaster, Bill must sell those rutabagas, so he puts up a big sign announcing his $5/lb sale on rutabagas.  He quickly sells out of rutabagas, and makes additional sales for supplies to make rutabaga pies.  Now Al has Bill's problem, too many rutabagas.  With the big profits from previous rutabaga sales, Al feels he can drop his price even lower, bringing back customers.  Eventually both Al and Bill reach a price point that still earns them enough profit to continue offering rutabagas.

This basic scenario of market competition illustrates how a free market works to keep prices and supplies at a consumer-driven equilibrium.  If Al and Bill got together and agreed to fix the price of rutabagas at $10/lb, it would change the whole dynamic.

If Al and Bill were CEOs of American corporations, they would make a secret deal to both sell rutabagas at $100/lb, force farmers to supply the rutabagas for $1/lb, and force competitors into bankruptcy with infringement suits.

And now we understand why Occupy America is so ignored.

Hang in there 8)