Letter to the editor: 'Free markets' must have rules

It is noticeable that many of the Trib’s opinion pieces are written by the Commonwealth Foundation and Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. I consider these two organizations to have extreme right-wing conservative and libertarian beliefs. To me their objectives are no taxes, no regulations and privatize everything, and they worship at the altar of unfettered free markets, the law of the jungle.

The economist Robert Reich’s approach is that there can be no “free markets” without rules. He states, “Government doesn’t ‘intrude’ on the ‘free market.’ It creates and maintains the market.”

But today, our economy is influenced by giant corporations, big banks and wealthy individuals with enough resources to be heard. Their money buys lobbyists, campaign contributions and public relations campaigns. And so the notion of the “free market” becomes a kind of smokescreen used by the very rich to continue rigging a system they’ve already rigged to their benefit.

The debate should not be about free markets vs. government interventions but about power and who wields it. It should be about how we the people should have a seat at the table; how we should benefit from the fruits of our labor and our economy. We the middle class need to speak out and demand our fair share. If Republicans and Democrats unite, we could take on the 1%.

Gloria Gralewski

Manor