I had an amazing dream last night.
I was in a CVS in New York City (seems more likely it would have been a Duane Reade, but it was a dream). For some reason, people congregated around the checkout counter. I think I was working there at this point, though it changed throughout the dream. One guy made an offhand comment about how socialism is a nice idea and he wishes the word didn’t have a bad rap.
He picked the wrong lane.
I politely disagreed, and explained why socialism is doomed to cause unnecessary pain and suffering always and everywhere, since it cuts off the life-giving signals of the market price system. This persuaded him. So much so that he gathered everyone else around and asked me to explain further.
Like I said, it was a dream.
I gave an impromptu nine-minute speech on the price system and the beauty of markets. I have no idea why it was nine minutes, but it was. I described why political allocation of resources will fall far short compared to free flowing markets every time, good intentions or not. I have historical and hypothetical examples.
A TV monitor near the ceiling began showing imagery corresponding to my arguments. It was a full scale production. At the end, everyone clapped, then chattered excitedly amongst themselves about the wonders profit, loss, and freedom.
There was a brief Q&A, and the only question I remember was from a woman with a Russian accent. She said, “Maybe not everyone needs free market capitalism”. I said, “Like not everyone needs electricity”. It seemed brilliant at the time, and a wave of enlightenment swept over the gathered hoard.
The oddest thing about the dream was the speech, because I remember giving the full monologue and being very aware of the arguments – even working to string them together in my head and put them to words. It wasn’t a foggy bunch of impressions the way dreams usually are. It was a clear delivery of carefully considered prose. I actually felt the same kind of tired afterwards that I do when I give a talk in real life. I woke up feeling like I’d actually given an impromptu nine-minute speech.
Maybe somewhere on another dimension, the good people of New York got an earful about why freedom is better than force.