Thanks to Hooser, he voted in the primary
I want to publicly thank Gary Hooser (On the ‘we’ of politics, voting and land-use maps, TGI, Aug. 5) for getting me to vote in the Kaua‘i County primary election.
I am one of the disenfranchised procrastinators that he urged to vote.
I’ve never voted in a local primary election, but his article persuaded me to do so. Unfortunately for him, I am not one of the “we” he is looking for.
You see, I subscribe to the “invisible hand” and what he calls “the charade” of market-based solutions.
That charade has brought billions of people out of poverty, feeds the world, has increased human life expectancy, built better transportation systems, and created new ways for us to communicate and interact with each other that would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago.
Market-based solutions began about 6,000 years ago with the trade in salt. This allowed humans to expand into areas that were lacking salt.
Were it not for Gary’s “charade” we’d still be living in caves wondering where our next meal was coming from.
The best part of market-based solutions is that they are based on voluntary interactions between people. Government based solutions — even the necessary, just and wise ones — require enforcers known as cops who use violence or the threat of violence to ensure compliance from everyone. Ask George Floyd’s family how well government enforcers worked for him.
So I cast my ballot for those who believe in the principals outlined in the Declaration of Independence. That is, each of us is born with rights that cannot be taken away, and that the reason government exists is to protect those individual rights. I voted for the candidates who believe I know better than they do how to pursue happiness and safety for myself and my family.
Paul Erickson, Kalaheo
