Like how the creation of the cotton gin totally freed up the time that laborers previously had to spend separating cottonseeds out to do more fun things. Things really improved for laborers in general after such inventions flowed through the free market.
Your "greater good" is not that great. Let me give some counterexamples:
- Sanitation: it's still done with public funding, no free marker will ever build a new sewer or water treatment plant.
- Medicine & vaccines: they're still developed by public funding and the incentives are the prestige and altruism of the researchers, not their income.
- Electricity: public investments everywhere.
- Roads & rail: No free market will ever create a highway, or even a secondary road. May I laugh about the rail "free market" / private investments?
- Food safety: achieved with laws and public funded inspection agencies.
You may argue that the free market expanded the internet. It seems small, doesn't it?
To be clear, I agree with you. I was sarcastically hinting at slavery to highlight that increases in productivity may not actually be for the greater good.
