What a wonderful gift Mr. Friedman was to all the world!! His ideas were so true so cogent!! He spoke with a smile that never left him!! He is greatly missed!!
I was just watching a different one of his videos and it had Peter Robinson, I didn't know really anything about him so I looked him up and I was surprised to find out that he was the speech writter for Reagan's famous "tear down that wall" speech. It's really interesting what you can learn while watching these videos.
@@LovingPrinceTamayuki He made a video series called "Free to Choose". You might like that as well. As Dave W mentioned, Thomas Sowell is excellent. He wrote a lot of books that are equally excellent.
Tom Evans ideas precede the reality, so in that way, ideas control reality, either through force or agreement. We have discovered that civilizations that advance their ideas through agreement tend to last longer and more peacefully than ones that force everyone into an idea.
Unfortunately we chose to go the wrong direction (or we let it slip to our detriment). Now we're at each other's throats over who can control the government, since the government now has so much control.
I loved it... couldn't of ended better. Mr. Friedman was the man. Most people only see what's infront of them or a step ahead of that. He was a master at taking them an extra few steps. Brilliance just oozes from this guy.
Americans should study Tanzania. They decided to redistribute equally immediately after indipendence. The system was known by the Swahili equivalent of communism called "Ujamaa." The incentive to produce fell to minimum subsistence. Those who tried to do more were consistently demotivated by the majority waiting for free handouts. Industries shut down to the point that the economy nearly regressed back to medieval barter trade system. A turn around to a capitalist attitude has produced slow but steady growth in the recent decades.
the resort to socialism after colonialism turned African states into bankrupt tribalism . NONE are now successful. the ones who invited China in will find all their exotic wildlife extinct and their resources extracted , with few local jobs to show for it.
It’s amazing how modern Republicans tout Reagan and Friedman as their sources of inspiration and guidance with all the current talk of protectionism, tariffs and manufacturing divides based on nationalism and race. God, I wish we could have Reagan and Friedman back to shake people to some sense.
@@ryankornkven9451 Yea its so wrong to want equal trade. Why the hell should other countries make more off trade with the country they're trading with.
@@OutSideTheBoxFormat "equal trade" isn't a thing. It's a buzz-phrase regurgitated by idiots who haven't the foggiest concept of economics.. same with "fair trade." Trade is performed by individuals, not countries. Now, it is possible to restrict trade, but that is not the beef you and your ilk have. When Americans trade with China they're doing so because they feel they will be better off when they do... that's what trade is!!! You trade something you value less for something you value more. That's what makes people wealthier!!! You want restrictions on trade which you think will make us wealthier. It's an idiotic notion. It will (and every lick of data agrees) make us poorer. You'll think we're becoming wealthier because you might see the cost of American goods increase and paychecks increase. But that is a one-sided view of wealth and doesn't take into account people's actual quality of life.
Gratitude to you for sharing your brilliant ideas in such understandable expression. May your soul always inspire us. Your wisdom will greatly contribute to make the humanity prosperous and happy.
Amazing, insightful lecture .. the economic and social realities of the modern world summed up brilliantly in 1978!!!!, yet in 2016... the US more socialistic than ever, more in debt than ever, less freedom of speech than ever - can only say whats PC to say, less individual rights than ever, ever declining federal education (2+2=5!!)..and there seems no end in sight .. in a country where being successful was celebrated and accepted now apparently you can be successful as long as not too successful, in case you reach the dreaded 1%.. what happened over there ?
Canadian Liberal party became Marxist ears ago.particularly Eastern half of Canada is heading towards a Venezuela soon, since so many voters are 4rth generation welfare or a bloated government/public service sector. don't surprised if western Canada sues to separate .
The Q&A, while entertaining, was frightening to me! I thought the indoctrination was a recent phenomenon, say in the last 20 years, but this shows it has been going on for much longer. You have to admire the ingenuity and persistence of the devil.
I like Friedman. He's simple. However, he talked out of his ass when it came to immigration. It's erroneous to compare today's immigration to immigration 120 years ago. First the European immigrants 120 years came from developed countries and had skill set as well as knowledge of English language particularly Ireland and UK; not to mention there was a industrial revolution which was still going on before WWI. So there was a labor demand. Also 100 plus years ago, the immigrants walked into a captive economy. There was no foreign competition. So jobs were more secure. Fast forward 100 years. The immigrants today are from third world countries. There's no industrial revolution going on. There's no demand for labor. There's also foreign competition. Friedman also failed to mention, the migrants are willing to work for less, always off the books. Hence they are not contributing to the welfare system but are beneficiaries. Also immigrants are keeping the wages down minimum or not. So blue collar jobs which paid a living wage are no longer viable particularly for non immigrants. It's not that Americans don't want jobs i.e. custodial, cashier, day laborer etc. It's that those jobs are no longer paying a minimum wage. Not to mention the standard of living fell due to open borders. I can also say the migrants are being exploited by the rich.
I would want to know who benefits from free market economy? What is it that we offer to other countries? America is mainly an importer, we offer dollar to import good and services. When was it good and how US progressed? Thinking of that first gum or cars produced in America, or new color videos, saying we are cool, all on positivism. Then the rest of the world wanted that too, so asked them to bring that joy to their country. Where else they have gone right? On labor pay, which attracted to many people to their country. I think the whole "Cool" went a bit beyond the responsibilities of the Government. Like trying to steal from the American People, when Cool meant Education is costly, so you gotta pay :), then higher taxes for everyone's benefit :), then Healthcare :) and so on. All of these things squeeze the American people, so you won't see too many happy faces any longer. Hard work has different definition. If the Uber drives was finally able to afford a schooling, then graduate with the cost of his health, found a better job???. These things are no longer guaranteed, that if you graduate you will find a good job. When you are offering a person with bachelor degree a minimum wage job, which is so "Mexican", then things are certainly bad. Then your Government comes and says today a family of four, all working, can afford housing, so I have a done a good job. In any case, family of four can't even afford a healthcare for all four. I really wonder, where will US corruption take the country. From 2008 stock market crash, where many pocketed millions of dollars, to those who lost it all, including all their savings... Where are they now? Perhaps on Welfare! I would want to check the statistics to see how many people are on unemployment and welfare and how many are dead, thanks to Obama asking to hire certain people... When you lose a count at things like how many people live in the city, how many are employed, what do they do for work? Can they afford to purchase a house? What makes a minimum wage job different from welfare? Say, the housing cost is so low, that you can buy an apartment with minimum wage job, which is great, as long as the welfare person cannot afford one! When a person working as a professional can't afford a housing, and it's been a long time, then you either move to a different place, where you can get a better job, based on that place's culture? or you can stay and fight!
Kind of food they're pumping out nowadays is going to finish off a lot of us anyway. They completely destroyed the luncheon meat you can't even find out what ham or bologna or Cool Cuts taste like these days you should be old enough to remember that the best Meats and food came from the small farmers and the small meat markets in stores big business ruined everything
You know how I know cold cuts don't taste like they used to because my cat or dog will sniff it and walk away and if I trust any one it would be a cat or a dog with their sense of smell.
When he talks about trees being an infinite source... that people will plant new trees because there is an economic incentive - it is perhaps the single greatest argument against his entire school of thought. The economic incentive to grow a tree for 100 years, sell the land as the tree gets older across multiple generations etc. does not make sense in the free market. The free market gives an incentive to cut down other existing trees, as seen in the Amazon rain forest, and have the resource in your hand for use immediate. Creating a farm to plant trees and then selling it after 10 years will undoubtedly be less economically viable than simply cutting down trees in another country. Not to mention the environmental damage that cutting down trees cause, with the only checks and balances being the economic incentive to replace them.
I see your point, but perhaps as the quantity of trees goes down, the price of wood goes up and ultimately incentivizes people to grow more trees. That's my two cents anyway
Those who cut the trees will tire of paying the endless fees and tariffs and inspections of bringing in foreign raw goods. As an example, a company in the Pacific Northwest has purchased enormous swaths of land to grow trees in 35 years cycles because it is cheaper to own the land for 35 years.
JD Kapperino you will find a lot more enlightenment by watching and pondering on Milton’s other lectures and books. I suggest “free to choose” to start with. I got my degree in economics from one of the average or may be slightly above average schools with a master’s in economics. However, I accidentally got interested in Milton Freedom. What a difference his teachings makes. Not to boast about myself, but I see economists from Ivy schools who see economics in a wrong way. I recommend many hours of studying his approach in economics.
The fully grown trees are priced into the land. Nobody is going to sell their lot with 1000's of board feet of timber on it and just totally neglect that it has value. I think this defeats the agurment that they have some economic advantage over the person who plants trees, as that guy just sells to the guy who wants to harvest them or harvests them himself. You'd see this in the real world if you looked into the economics of tree farms and how they actually behave.
Assuming most immigrants do not move to the States for minimum wage jobs but for the opportunities. America is not the top liberal country welcoming immigrants with wide open hands. As a matter of fact, many still do not speak English. Most people moving to Europe are given enough opportunities and help to learn the language. While America takes pride for welcoming so many immigrants, the opportunities are very limited...
There is inequality, Bezos produces something that people want. (Amazon and Whole Foods) The money is all tied up in the business and investments which are employing people. He didn't take from anyone, it isn't a zero-sum game. What I mean is that while Bezos was making his money he was improving the lives of others. It sounds like you think that a handout from the very wealthy will make poor people stop being poor. It is actually the opposite in most cases. It provides a perverse incentive. If you get paid to be poor, you will most likely do what you are being paid to do. It sounds cruel. It actually isn't. Increasing the levels of socialism is cruel. Intentions do not necessarily lead to positive outcomes. I felt just like you until I studied Thomas Sowell and economics for years. You are free to have your opinion. You are also free to look at the real outcome of social policies. (blue pill or red)
No acknowledgment of the damage western communities did to the rest of the world. India had a highly developed economic system for over 2000 years - traded with Africa and the middle east, China etc. Highly skilled artisans making greatly sought after produce from the natural resources of those lands. Then the Europeans went in, attacked and destroyed the artisans (for instance breaking the hands of people who made fine cloths) created the industrial revolution where substandard produce was made using machinery, manned by people who were paid incredibly poorly (people who had been farmers and small landowners in the UK, who had their lands stolen from them and had no option but work in these places for a pittance to try to feed their families), in conditions that were dangerous and involved human rights abuses. These are the origins of capitalism and the reason why the whole earth suffers now. Its painful that this guy seems to have completely missed that point, his attitude is the reason for our pain.
I have always admired Milton Friedman. I do have to correct him, America is a continent not a country. I also acknowledge that he did emphasize that he would be talking about United States, the country.
The Free-Market is a myth. What it assumes is real however and that is a dependent majority who are coerced by social structure to forfeit their labor (and there lives) in return for wages all to the enrichment of an ownership class. The working majority are coerced further by the systematic elimination of political alternatives to either face incarceration or homelessness and death by exposure to submit to a political regime backed by force and imposed by a body of law that enables the extraction of labor against the will of the working majority. Disguising this brutal program of unfreedom and top down economic control as a benign and inevitable process of nature is the principle function of the economics profession. The underlying myth of man-made structures entrapping human populations and these being attributed to abstract forces is fundamental to imposition of all utopian ideologies, capitalist, communist or fascist. Interestingly cults like the Church of Scientology use similar logic to beguile their congregations into surrender to a totalizing system of belief.
gary morrison no one is forced into labor in a free market .. are you talking about forced labor camps like the gulags or what? If you don’t want to work for someone you can work for someone else or start a business and work for yourself. Nothing is perfect but what’s your alternative to freedom?
gary morrison so what is your solution if you are against capitalism ( as Milton Friedman explains it) and socialism or communism as the liberals in America explain it?
The essential element of the "free" market system is that individuals come to cooperate voluntarily. They do so for the incentives associated with particular actions to satisfy their own self-interest. No one needs to hold a gun to their head, no one needs to physically put them to labor camps. You keep using the word "coerced", but the only society where coercion is dominant are the government controlled ones. If you think about it, the free market is not a political regime. Not at all. It is a natural system. Nobody needs to enforce a law for there to be a free market. On the other hand, it is the government controlled societies that rely on "political regime backed by force" to use your words. You see, the reason why people think sometimes the free-market system is "brutal" is because they are not recognizing the fact that with individual freedom comes individual responsibility. The free market, while allowing you to make choices for your own, also holds you accountable for the choices you make. Remember, freedom is not free.
gary morrison You are blessed to be born in this country my friend. You are not forced to work. You can get welfare and food stamps and free medical care that will enable you to survive. Paid for by the working taxpayers. Perhaps you need to get acquainted with the millions of people in this country who do just that. You can join them. Survive without working or producing anything. WHAT A HORRIBLE COUNTRY!
What Friedman teaches makes sense and is ground in reality. No wonder they don't teach his work in schools.
This speech has never been more relevant than it is today.
What a wonderful gift Mr. Friedman was to all the world!! His ideas were so true so cogent!! He spoke with a smile that never left him!! He is greatly missed!!
Been learning a lot from this great teacher. Hopefully I can take this knowledge to my Cuban people.
His smile is so comforting
Mehdi Nikui he’s a cutie
I wish I knew this guy 15 years ago, he's so interesting when he talks about economics.i learn so much from him now.
Read and Watch Thomas Sowell then.
I was just watching a different one of his videos and it had Peter Robinson, I didn't know really anything about him so I looked him up and I was surprised to find out that he was the speech writter for Reagan's famous "tear down that wall" speech. It's really interesting what you can learn while watching these videos.
@@LovingPrinceTamayuki He made a video series called "Free to Choose". You might like that as well. As Dave W mentioned, Thomas Sowell is excellent. He wrote a lot of books that are equally excellent.
Economics = idealism.
POWER = reality.
Tom Evans ideas precede the reality, so in that way, ideas control reality, either through force or agreement. We have discovered that civilizations that advance their ideas through agreement tend to last longer and more peacefully than ones that force everyone into an idea.
Unfortunately we chose to go the wrong direction (or we let it slip to our detriment). Now we're at each other's throats over who can control the government, since the government now has so much control.
Boy you hit that nail on the head dead center!
I've been learning from Uncle Milton a lots since 4 months I knew him.
He holds the key to true change, but no one wants to listen. .
@@thewealthofnations4827 that's too hard, we want someone else to pay for it
"I'm on your side, but you're not!!" Brilliant
when he crushed the "limits to growth" idiocy from the club of rome, i nearly teared up... i love this man
No other lecture could be more relevant right now.
"I'm on your side but you are not"........
Brilliant!
Man I love Milton Friedman!
Perfect
I loved it... couldn't of ended better. Mr. Friedman was the man. Most people only see what's infront of them or a step ahead of that. He was a master at taking them an extra few steps. Brilliance just oozes from this guy.
Americans should study Tanzania. They decided to redistribute equally immediately after indipendence. The system was known by the Swahili equivalent of communism called "Ujamaa." The incentive to produce fell to minimum subsistence. Those who tried to do more were consistently demotivated by the majority waiting for free handouts. Industries shut down to the point that the economy nearly regressed back to medieval barter trade system. A turn around to a capitalist attitude has produced slow but steady growth in the recent decades.
the resort to socialism after colonialism turned African states into bankrupt tribalism . NONE are now successful. the ones who invited China in will find all their exotic wildlife extinct and their resources extracted , with few local jobs to show for it.
This dude rocks! Brilliant!
It’s amazing how modern Republicans tout Reagan and Friedman as their sources of inspiration and guidance with all the current talk of protectionism, tariffs and manufacturing divides based on nationalism and race. God, I wish we could have Reagan and Friedman back to shake people to some sense.
Yes, I've noticed this too. Not sure how you can claim to be a Conservative when you are pushing tariffs and giving out subsidies left and right.
What does tout mean, and what do you mean in using this word I am asking the definition for?
@@ryankornkven9451 Yea its so wrong to want equal trade. Why the hell should other countries make more off trade with the country they're trading with.
@@OutSideTheBoxFormat "equal trade" isn't a thing. It's a buzz-phrase regurgitated by idiots who haven't the foggiest concept of economics.. same with "fair trade." Trade is performed by individuals, not countries. Now, it is possible to restrict trade, but that is not the beef you and your ilk have. When Americans trade with China they're doing so because they feel they will be better off when they do... that's what trade is!!! You trade something you value less for something you value more. That's what makes people wealthier!!! You want restrictions on trade which you think will make us wealthier. It's an idiotic notion. It will (and every lick of data agrees) make us poorer. You'll think we're becoming wealthier because you might see the cost of American goods increase and paychecks increase. But that is a one-sided view of wealth and doesn't take into account people's actual quality of life.
Idc for either party it's a facade but Trump is a Democrat lol
Ever see a dog or cat rolling around in the sunlight? Totally soaking it in... That's how I feel when I listen to Friedman. I just wanna bask in it.
Even back then, He knew...
"I'm on your side, but you're not." Damn, if only liberals today knew about this man.
Gratitude to you for sharing your brilliant ideas in such understandable expression. May your soul always inspire us. Your wisdom will greatly contribute to make the humanity prosperous and happy.
26:25 "I'll give you two minutes of talk for two of these pencils." Milton Friedman is endearing.
Amazing, insightful lecture .. the economic and social realities of the modern world summed up brilliantly in 1978!!!!, yet in 2016... the US more socialistic than ever, more in debt than ever, less freedom of speech than ever - can only say whats PC to say, less individual rights than ever, ever declining federal education (2+2=5!!)..and there seems no end in sight .. in a country where being successful was celebrated and accepted now apparently you can be successful as long as not too successful, in case you reach the dreaded 1%.. what happened over there ?
Infiltration. Did you hear the Canadian and English accents from the questioners?
Too much common sense for the modern day
Every college kid in 1978 looks like Ashton Kutcher.
very interesting and knowledgeable man.
Amazing QA as well at the end
" Am on your side, but your not"
46:29 that guy sounds like Jordan Peterson
Straight up true....bucko :)
Lol so true
Knowing what we know now, can you hear the Canadian and English accents from the audience questions? Infiltration at its finest.
Canadian Liberal party became Marxist ears ago.particularly Eastern half of Canada is heading towards a Venezuela soon, since so many voters are 4rth generation welfare or a bloated government/public service sector. don't surprised if western Canada sues to separate .
46:48 Food for thought.
27:11 “Whhhhy?!” Lol
1:09:28 watch the old guy
The Q&A, while entertaining, was frightening to me! I thought the indoctrination was a recent phenomenon, say in the last 20 years, but this shows it has been going on for much longer. You have to admire the ingenuity and persistence of the devil.
Woah!!
Bad laws make socially advantageous acts illegal. It's therefore socially virtuous not to follow such laws. The black market is a good example
I like Friedman. He's simple. However, he talked out of his ass when it came to immigration. It's erroneous to compare today's immigration to immigration 120 years ago. First the European immigrants 120 years came from developed countries and had skill set as well as knowledge of English language particularly Ireland and UK; not to mention there was a industrial revolution which was still going on before WWI. So there was a labor demand. Also 100 plus years ago, the immigrants walked into a captive economy. There was no foreign competition. So jobs were more secure. Fast forward 100 years. The immigrants today are from third world countries. There's no industrial revolution going on. There's no demand for labor. There's also foreign competition. Friedman also failed to mention, the migrants are willing to work for less, always off the books. Hence they are not contributing to the welfare system but are beneficiaries. Also immigrants are keeping the wages down minimum or not. So blue collar jobs which paid a living wage are no longer viable particularly for non immigrants. It's not that Americans don't want jobs i.e. custodial, cashier, day laborer etc. It's that those jobs are no longer paying a minimum wage. Not to mention the standard of living fell due to open borders. I can also say the migrants are being exploited by the rich.
the price of wood in the future isnt affected by the weather today?
I would want to know who benefits from free market economy? What is it that we offer to other countries? America is mainly an importer, we offer dollar to import good and services. When was it good and how US progressed? Thinking of that first gum or cars produced in America, or new color videos, saying we are cool, all on positivism. Then the rest of the world wanted that too, so asked them to bring that joy to their country. Where else they have gone right? On labor pay, which attracted to many people to their country. I think the whole "Cool" went a bit beyond the responsibilities of the Government. Like trying to steal from the American People, when Cool meant Education is costly, so you gotta pay :), then higher taxes for everyone's benefit :), then Healthcare :) and so on. All of these things squeeze the American people, so you won't see too many happy faces any longer. Hard work has different definition. If the Uber drives was finally able to afford a schooling, then graduate with the cost of his health, found a better job???. These things are no longer guaranteed, that if you graduate you will find a good job. When you are offering a person with bachelor degree a minimum wage job, which is so "Mexican", then things are certainly bad. Then your Government comes and says today a family of four, all working, can afford housing, so I have a done a good job. In any case, family of four can't even afford a healthcare for all four. I really wonder, where will US corruption take the country. From 2008 stock market crash, where many pocketed millions of dollars, to those who lost it all, including all their savings... Where are they now? Perhaps on Welfare! I would want to check the statistics to see how many people are on unemployment and welfare and how many are dead, thanks to Obama asking to hire certain people... When you lose a count at things like how many people live in the city, how many are employed, what do they do for work? Can they afford to purchase a house? What makes a minimum wage job different from welfare? Say, the housing cost is so low, that you can buy an apartment with minimum wage job, which is great, as long as the welfare person cannot afford one! When a person working as a professional can't afford a housing, and it's been a long time, then you either move to a different place, where you can get a better job, based on that place's culture? or you can stay and fight!
Big business is what wiped out the small farmers. Interview the small farmers they will tell you they could not keep up with the big businesses
Same happened with the small stores and meat markets I used to have in my neighborhood where the food was 10 times better wiped out by big business
Kind of food they're pumping out nowadays is going to finish off a lot of us anyway. They completely destroyed the luncheon meat you can't even find out what ham or bologna or Cool Cuts taste like these days you should be old enough to remember that the best Meats and food came from the small farmers and the small meat markets in stores big business ruined everything
The Young Generation of today will never know what Good food used to taste like I know cuz I'm in my 70s.
Our government isn't perfect but you can't put all the blame on the government.
You know how I know cold cuts don't taste like they used to because my cat or dog will sniff it and walk away and if I trust any one it would be a cat or a dog with their sense of smell.
This is america
50:30
When he talks about trees being an infinite source... that people will plant new trees because there is an economic incentive - it is perhaps the single greatest argument against his entire school of thought.
The economic incentive to grow a tree for 100 years, sell the land as the tree gets older across multiple generations etc. does not make sense in the free market. The free market gives an incentive to cut down other existing trees, as seen in the Amazon rain forest, and have the resource in your hand for use immediate. Creating a farm to plant trees and then selling it after 10 years will undoubtedly be less economically viable than simply cutting down trees in another country. Not to mention the environmental damage that cutting down trees cause, with the only checks and balances being the economic incentive to replace them.
I see your point, but perhaps as the quantity of trees goes down, the price of wood goes up and ultimately incentivizes people to grow more trees. That's my two cents anyway
Those who cut the trees will tire of paying the endless fees and tariffs and inspections of bringing in foreign raw goods. As an example, a company in the Pacific Northwest has purchased enormous swaths of land to grow trees in 35 years cycles because it is cheaper to own the land for 35 years.
Here in the US you must reforest. Cant control what corrupt Brazil does
JD Kapperino you will find a lot more enlightenment by watching and pondering on Milton’s other lectures and books. I suggest “free to choose” to start with. I got my degree in economics from one of the average or may be slightly above average schools with a master’s in economics. However, I accidentally got interested in Milton Freedom. What a difference his teachings makes. Not to boast about myself, but I see economists from Ivy schools who see economics in a wrong way. I recommend many hours of studying his approach in economics.
The fully grown trees are priced into the land. Nobody is going to sell their lot with 1000's of board feet of timber on it and just totally neglect that it has value. I think this defeats the agurment that they have some economic advantage over the person who plants trees, as that guy just sells to the guy who wants to harvest them or harvests them himself.
You'd see this in the real world if you looked into the economics of tree farms and how they actually behave.
37:40. China has entered the chat
I believe big business wiped out the small farmer.
James >> Small farmers were wiped out by the freedom to choose, whether to keep farming or move to town and get a job.
Funny thing is you're both right lol
min 30 zero sum game
Assuming most immigrants do not move to the States for minimum wage jobs but for the opportunities. America is not the top liberal country welcoming immigrants with wide open hands. As a matter of fact, many still do not speak English. Most people moving to Europe are given enough opportunities and help to learn the language. While America takes pride for welcoming so many immigrants, the opportunities are very limited...
genius. the issue today is the person that can feed those 19 familiesand others abroad, isn't. greed is at an all time high. *cough* bezos' *cough*
There is inequality, Bezos produces something that people want. (Amazon and Whole Foods) The money is all tied up in the business and investments which are employing people. He didn't take from anyone, it isn't a zero-sum game. What I mean is that while Bezos was making his money he was improving the lives of others. It sounds like you think that a handout from the very wealthy will make poor people stop being poor. It is actually the opposite in most cases. It provides a perverse incentive. If you get paid to be poor, you will most likely do what you are being paid to do. It sounds cruel. It actually isn't. Increasing the levels of socialism is cruel. Intentions do not necessarily lead to positive outcomes. I felt just like you until I studied Thomas Sowell and economics for years. You are free to have your opinion. You are also free to look at the real outcome of social policies. (blue pill or red)
Having the ability to feed those 19 families does not equal an obligation to do so.
Sounds like envy is at an all time high from your comment.
No acknowledgment of the damage western communities did to the rest of the world. India had a highly developed economic system for over 2000 years - traded with Africa and the middle east, China etc. Highly skilled artisans making greatly sought after produce from the natural resources of those lands. Then the Europeans went in, attacked and destroyed the artisans (for instance breaking the hands of people who made fine cloths) created the industrial revolution where substandard produce was made using machinery, manned by people who were paid incredibly poorly (people who had been farmers and small landowners in the UK, who had their lands stolen from them and had no option but work in these places for a pittance to try to feed their families), in conditions that were dangerous and involved human rights abuses.
These are the origins of capitalism and the reason why the whole earth suffers now. Its painful that this guy seems to have completely missed that point, his attitude is the reason for our pain.
Your comment is sad
I have always admired Milton Friedman. I do have to correct him, America is a continent not a country. I also acknowledge that he did emphasize that he would be talking about United States, the country.
So you point....?
The Free-Market is a myth. What it assumes is real however and that is a dependent majority who are coerced by social structure to forfeit their labor (and there lives) in return for wages all to the enrichment of an ownership class. The working majority are coerced further by the systematic elimination of political alternatives to either face incarceration or homelessness and death by exposure to submit to a political regime backed by force and imposed by a body of law that enables the extraction of labor against the will of the working majority. Disguising this brutal program of unfreedom and top down economic control as a benign and inevitable process of nature is the principle function of the economics profession. The underlying myth of man-made structures entrapping human populations and these being attributed to abstract forces is fundamental to imposition of all utopian ideologies, capitalist, communist or fascist. Interestingly cults like the Church of Scientology use similar logic to beguile their congregations into surrender to a totalizing system of belief.
Who's creating the jobs? Sure isn't the poor people.
gary morrison no one is forced into labor in a free market .. are you talking about forced labor camps like the gulags or what? If you don’t want to work for someone you can work for someone else or start a business and work for yourself. Nothing is perfect but what’s your alternative to freedom?
gary morrison so what is your solution if you are against capitalism ( as Milton Friedman explains it) and socialism or communism as the liberals in America explain it?
The essential element of the "free" market system is that individuals come to cooperate voluntarily. They do so for the incentives associated with particular actions to satisfy their own self-interest. No one needs to hold a gun to their head, no one needs to physically put them to labor camps. You keep using the word "coerced", but the only society where coercion is dominant are the government controlled ones. If you think about it, the free market is not a political regime. Not at all. It is a natural system. Nobody needs to enforce a law for there to be a free market. On the other hand, it is the government controlled societies that rely on "political regime backed by force" to use your words. You see, the reason why people think sometimes the free-market system is "brutal" is because they are not recognizing the fact that with individual freedom comes individual responsibility. The free market, while allowing you to make choices for your own, also holds you accountable for the choices you make. Remember, freedom is not free.
gary morrison You are blessed to be born in this country my friend. You are not forced to work. You can get welfare and food stamps and free medical care that will enable you to survive. Paid for by the working taxpayers. Perhaps you need to get acquainted with the millions of people in this country who do just that. You can join them. Survive without working or producing anything. WHAT A HORRIBLE COUNTRY!