Markets and Redemption

Without markets people wouldn't have the opportunity to redeem themselves and uplift humanity

Markets are a moral force for good because they encourage wrongdoers to uplift themselves and others by making penance profitable, and hence more feasible than it would otherwise be.

In countries with robust markets, those convicted of serious crimes are literally afforded second chances by getting paid to atone for their bad actions through advocacy careers and speaking work.

Without the market’s willingness to pay for it, that atonement would be a luxury for a few and an impossibility for most, available only to those who could already afford to spend their time on it. The market lets a person pursue forgiveness for a living, and thus lets most pursue it at all.

Likewise, markets help ordinary offenders redeem themselves by giving them the chance to work, to start businesses, and to pay restitution out of wages — and hence the ability to support the families and communities they once failed.

Compare this to the other institutions that handle wrongdoing. The law punishes. Shame excludes. Vengeance destroys. All of which take away instead of add. None of them asks the wrongdoer to produce anything.

And the difference shows. Employment after release is among the strongest predictors of whether someone offends again. Those who hold a job through the first year out return to prison at a fraction of the rate of those who do not. The market does more to prevent the next crime than the punishment did to answer the last one.

So let it be known: markets not only produce an abundance of goods, but also an abundance of good.

Zigmund Reichenbach has an M.A. in Philosophy from West Chester University and was a professional advocate for less government for nearly seven years. You can help him combat bad ideas in politics and philosophy by donating to his work at https://ko-fi.com/zigmundreichenbach .


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