When getting into a discussion about whether or not the free market is a good idea, one thing seems to find its way in, under the assumption that it exist in the free market: the actions of the corporations. In the standard argument, if a government didn't have anything to do with the market, then the corporations will cause all manner of problems for the independents and the consumers in order to get the most profit.
This argument falls on its face for two reasons.
The first reason is that the corporation is a fictional legal construct made by laws; it is only by a government's say-so that a corporation even exists. As such, it is absolutely impossible for a corporation to exist in a free market, because its existence is a direct result of government interference.
The other reason involves what gives a corporation its power, money. Money is a measure of value, and thanks to a whole string of laws dating back in the United States since 1913, it is the sole legal source of currency in the United States, which consists of papers that depend on the debt produced at the time of its delivery into the market. This debt is controlled by (surprise!) a corporation that has some oversight by the United States government, the Federal Reserve Bank.
Of course, there is merit to the idea that corporations can exist without law, because the government is a corporation, right? In this case, the corporation exists because you either go along with the fiction, or you will be extorted, robbed, beaten, thrown in a cage, or even killed, depending on how determined you are to ignore the fiction. And since the general public, afraid of the consequences, go along with the fiction to be allowed to continue living, they will look at you as a criminal for daring to ignore the "law."
So, keep in mind the next time you want to state that corporations take advantage of the "free market," just remember that they don't exist, and can't exist in a free market.
