The Path to Progress is Through Innovations

          In a free market, merchants try to think of ways to best their competition. They try to improve their products, prices, and processes to make their customers happy and to attract new customers. When their  improvement works, they do more business and are rewarded for their good deeds.
          Innovation is putting two unrelated items together to create something new. That is how progress is made. Innovators are inspired by need or greed to think and do the impossible or the unthinkable. The results of their inspirations are often improvements in the well being of their customers.
          The dragon of interference into the lives of others is a compelling force and is hard to slay. Voluntary improvement isn’t good enough for a Statist. The Statist wants to impose on all merchants the things that the good merchant does voluntarily. Supporters of the dragon generally want to institutionalize the innovative merchants good idea by imposing these idea on everyone. Rather than let the market take its course, they want to try to force the good behavior of some on the everyone. .
          They don’t realize that this is not necessary and not at all wise. Good works have their own reward. J C Penney proved this principle when he opened his Golden Rule store in Kemmerer, Wyoming way back in 1912. His innovations helped change and improve American retailing.
          They also don’t realize that it is counterproductive. In a land where there is no reward for superior performance, no one improves performance. I was reminded of this years ago when I visited Russia when it was ruled by a Marxist government. I asked to eat in the best restaurant in Moscow. To my amazement, there wasn’t a best restaurant. There was no benefit or reward to anyone to do a better job than someone else.
          Only a free market inspires innovation and progress. In a land without incentives to do well, no one does well. When you are inspired to think you want to force someone to do something or you say, “ there ought to be a law”, it is time for you to figure how to slay your personal dragon of interference into the lives of others.