| FMF NEWSLETTER 23 December 2020 |
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| End of year message from Rex van Schalkwyk, Chairman of the Board of the Free Market Foundation |
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There have been many lessons learned from the Covid-19 event, and each individual will have experienced the collective encampment according to personal circumstances. The one outstanding feature however is the almost universal loss of individual freedom inflicted upon the citizenry by governments around the world. The most troubling aspect of this phenomenon is not that governments chose to do as they did, but the ease with which some of the most egregious violations were accomplished, with little or no resistance from the collective victimhood.
Government, as an institution, has learned an invaluable lesson: autocracy, and tyranny even, may be relatively easily accomplished. We, the citizenry, have now been given explicit warning of this prospect by the governments themselves, and by their enthusiastic spokesmen. This is not a phenomenon that is confined to South Africa, although President Ramaphosa has spoken repeatedly of the need for a new economy, based upon radical economic transformation. We had a foretaste of how this would look with one of the regulations that decreed that financial assistance to small enterprises in need, would prioritise those that conformed to BBBEE requirements.
It is clear that the ANC government has a deliberate programme of action for the economic recovery that is expected to follow the event. All government initiatives will be designed to promote BBBEE and affirmative action, with the result that any remnants of a free economy will be eviscerated. More than 11 million South Africans are now unemployed; the result of decades of immoral government policies. Policies of redistributionism, paternalism, and increased state control cannot attain the real economic growth that South Africa desperately needs. There will be no recovery without strong property rights, an adherence to the rule of law, fewer regulations and lower taxes, in an environment that encourages investment. It is our purpose to do all we possibly can to resist the destructive policies and to strive instead for a free economy in which individual liberty remains sacrosanct.
Leon Louw is congratulated on his appointment as President of the Free Market Foundation. He will continue to promote the interests of the Foundation with skill, as he has done since inception.
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| New FMF article |
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African norms are not compatible with expropriation without compensation – Zakhele Mthembu
Property rights are universal. They are found in every cultural context where human beings live with one another. Pre-colonial Africa has been cast with the unfortunate fallacy of having had no private property rights but rather some form of collective property ownership and use. This is a rank misrepresentation that stems from colonial writers’ misunderstanding of property organisation in this time period in Africa, particularly in relation to land. Marxist liberation movements of the continent ran with this misrepresentation and continue to do so today.
Restitution ought to always have the end of placing and entrenching property rights with not the state, but the individuals who enjoy the use/occupation of said property. State custodianship of land and a constitution that allows for expropriation without compensation is antithetical to this conception, since rights will lie with state representatives, rather than individuals and their communities. Expropriation without compensation would further perpetuate the injustice it seeks to correct.
To read further, please click here.
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| Latest FMF research |
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Constitutional rights and their limitations: A critical appraisal of the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa (African Human Rights Law Journal) – Martin van Staden
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| Latest FMF event videos (WATCH) |
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The American constitutional order and SA's expropriation without compensation – Prof Robert Vivian
EWC is inconsistent with the basic structure of the Constitution – Martin van Staden
"You will own nothing, and you will be happy" – Rex van Schalkwyk opening remarks
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| Latest Free Marketeers episode (listen, subscribe, share) |
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In conversation with rabid capitalist – Hannah Cox
Our podcasts are also available on Apple, Spotify, and Google
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| FMF in the media |
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FMF articles
Only economic freedom can reverse SA's decline in human development – Riaan Salie
More centralisation for NHI will result in more corruption – Chris Hattingh
Khaya Lam video – Clanwilliam title deed ceremony
Khaya Lam media release – Personal touch in the presentation of title deeds in Pniel - FMF’s Khaya Lam and Stellenbosch Municipality
Quarterly Review: July 2020 – September 2020
Media Digest & Cuttings November 2020 for all media coverage
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| Worth readings |
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Lockdowns in SA freed township entrepreneurs to thrive
How big government stacked the deck against small business
No Queensbury rules in the ratings ring
New book from the Fraser Institute
Essential Austrian Economics by Christopher J. Coyne and Peter J. Boettke
The purpose of this book is to present an overview of the key tenets of Austrian economics by synthesizing the insights from numerous thinkers in a set of eight topics that capture the core elements of Austrian economics.
For more information, and to download, click here.
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| FESTIVE Season message |
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The FMF Board, Directors and staff wish our members, friends and fans a rejuvenating Festive Season. We look forward in 2021 to working toward a future filled with growth, employment and hope.
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