Shaquile Oneil is an intimidating egoist. Ron Artest is a thug. Dennis Rodman is... well, a punk.
Many will argue that these men are all great basketball players. But that argument is only defensible if greatness is measured solely, in points, rebounds, and assists.
Now, my credentials for critiquing NBA athletes is confined to a single basketball season in 9th grade when I unexpectedly survived the 3rd cut and made the B team. I held the record for scoring the fewest points that season... zero, and at the conclusion of that 1st and last season, I became, at most, a casual observer of the sport.
But one must not be a die hard fan to see that an unrestrained ambition and the selfish pursuit of individual stats and glory has eclipsed fair play, sportsmanship, and a reverence for the game.
This is placing the sport's future in peril.
There's another game, the game of free market business, that's equally in peril... and the casual observer does not need courtside seats to see that fair play, sportsmanship, and reverence for the game of business is diminishing.
And with it, the prospect of prosperity for the common man is threatened too.
The external threats to free markets are many and grave; Keynesian economic theory, Obamacare, and University economic departments just to name a few.
But two internal threats pose an even greater risk:
First-fraud, deception, and a flagrant disregard for any reasonable restraints on behavior in business.
And Second-the drive to destroy the competition through intimidation, litigation, and legislation.
These moral blights, borne of the unrestrained pursuit of profit result in ever increasing regulation that is antithetical to Free Market Vitality.
In basketball, there are the rules that "define" the game, the players who agree to play by the rules, and the refs who enforce them, when the occasional infraction occurs.
In my unique situation on the 9th grade B team, because I had never played before, I was completely unfamiliar with the rules.
In an epic game against a competing junior high, I received an inbound pass and promptly traveled... according to the ref. In frustration I slammed the ball to the ground intending to catch it on its way up.
But... to my complete surprise... it flew past my hands towards the ceiling of the small gym like a rocket.
A technical foul was called, and I was nearly assaulted by our coach on my way to the bench.
Now, I'm sure that ref saw me as a flippant spoil-sport who casually broke the rules then flew into a rage upon getting caught.
It highlights the most significant internal threat: that is, the leaders of companies who sometimes flagrantly and often times covertly defraud and deceive their customers in an attempt to profit at any cost.
At the national level, the inevitable reaction is always the same: revulsion by the public, then over-reaction and over-regulation by government, then a market that is more constrained and less free to prosper, as a result.
Later in the game, in a momentary lapse of judgment, the coach put me back in and again I ran afoul of the rules, which was promptly brought to my attention by the guy I was guarding. He grabbed my arm, got in my face and growled, "If you throw one more elbow I'm going to punch you in the face."
I was not "throwing" elbows.
But... being highly uncertain of the rules and not wanting to get punched in the face, I became highly reserved and even passive for the rest of the game.
Thus, highlighting the other internal threat to free markets: the intimidation of competitors to gain not just a competitive advantage, but an unfair advantage through litigation and legislation.
It is easy to see Big Pharma and Big Food using the FDA to ban and suppress, and in some cases criminalize innovative, competing products and industries.
This is a common tactic in the lobby/legislative world called "Raising a Rival's Costs" and its intent is to put a competitor out of business or legislatively damage another man's ability to make a living!
(I hate to admit this, but in my darker moments, I've pondered the merits of this tactic). This piling on of more regulation and fear of litigation beats many small and innovative companies into passivity, which further constrains what would otherwise be free market expansion.
Now, imagine a basketball game where five referees were necessary to maintain order on the court because of widespread flagrant fouling. How about seven refs, or a ref for each player on the court?!
The game couldn't be played with that many people running around. In fact, the game would cease to be a game at that point.
And that point will inevitably arrive for our free market if something isn't done to reduce the behaviors driving these increased regulatory constraints.
The remedy for this disease is not more legislation because morality cannot be legislated.
This great game of business can only be saved by a voluntary return to the moral principles of self-restrained and self-governed virtue, where the majority of players place the future of the game above their own personal ambition.
To make my point, I have to change sports because a corresponding analogy does not exist in professional basketball!
Bobby Jones was the co-founder of Augusta and the Masters and is considered to be one of the greatest golfers in history.
At the 1925 US Open, he famously called a two-stoke penalty on himself for accidentally moving the ball. He notified the marshals who hadn't seen it, they consulted the gallery who hadn't seen it, then told him it was up to him to make the call.
He said the two-stoke penalty occurred, and that it must stand and went on to loose the tournament by a single stroke!
This act of fair play and reverence for the game inspired the USGA to create the Bobby Jones Award for sportsmanship.
As fabricators far and wide, may we save and secure the greatest economic system in the history of the world by first being, and then inspiring others to be the Bobby Jones of the great game of free market business!
Aaron J. Crowley is the founder and president of FabricatorsFriend.com, the exclusive promoter of Stone Sleeve fabricator sleeves and Bullet Proof aprons. He is also the author of Less Chaos More Cash. You can reach him by email at Aaron@CrowleysGranite.com
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