Markets as a system of allocating resources (efficiently) has fast expanded its reach and power such that it is now looked upon as a savior to eradicate the most viscious of all problems, poverty!
But it has also come on to be dreaded for being a system of capital accumulation more commonly known as Capitalism.
It flourished through out the history, but the industrial revolution transformed it into a force, adding technology that could make things that served people's utility.
However in the process diminished human beings to mere inputs in the production process.
Technolgy and markets both are neutral but are quiet different when it is in the hands of the few (humans).
It gives powers to few, just like any other system, for example a monarchy. And then the few go on to decide how people should live, eat, be educated, etc, etc.
Inequality is pervasive and is acceptable. All men our born equal, but their luck differ.(Equity is normative, not positive)
It De-links human beings from the world, the biosphere in general. Why should the few sitting in their air conditioned rooms worry about global warming which definitely won’t affect them in their short lives?
It routes imperialism, where the few rule the mass. In earlier centuries one could do it politically – England ruled three quarters of the world by conquering and waging wars and now you can do it through markets and yes, waging a war still is an option for the powerful that have the money.
The aggression to own and the development of instincts for luxury and convenience well, can all not be blamed on the markets!
Markets that push you into the herd, and the only wisdom is the the rule of money which becomes the rule of the law and on and on goes its reach.
And life is reduced to a paper-note and paradoxically having a picture of Mahatma Gandhi on it.
