progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC
INTELLECTUAL
individual responsibilities to achieve our several goals and purposes, and above all, to
protect our freedom, but as a result of rum smuggling against the Government. There are
multiple ironies in the Friedman context.
Friedman in Capitalism continues with his two principles. First the scope of government
must be limited. Second, government power must be dispersed. He states 115 :
"The preservation of freedom is the protective reason for limiting and decentralizing
governmental power."
Unlike Nozick, who we shall discuss shortly, Friedman looked at the individual from the
perspective an economic lens. For him the explanation of freedom was economic
freedom. For Freidman, Economic Freedom led to Political Freedom. As he states 116 :
"It is widely believed that politics and economics are separate and largely unconnected;
that individual freedom is a political problem and material welfare an economic
problem; and that any kind of political arrangements can be combined with any kind of
economic arrangements. The chief contemporary manifestation of this idea is the
advocacy of "democratic socialism"…"
Needless to say Friedman then goes on to disabuse the reader that such a mix and match
is possible. The economic structure and the political structure are one. Change the
economic structure and then you will affect the political as well. Change the political and
you change the economic. One need merely look at the three periods of economic crises
in the US. in 1933 we moved from Hoover to FDR and the economic situation continued
downward. From 1979 to 1980 we went from the economic disaster of Carter to the
beginning of the longest term period of prosperity under Reagan. Then in 2008 we went
from Bush to Obama and like 1932 we remain mired in economic collapse. Is there a
reason for this? Friedman would argue in the affirmative.
5.2 R. H. COASE
I have found Coase is one of my favorite economists, one of very few. He avoids the
plethora of useless equations and deals with simple examples and logic. Coase is in many
ways the Aristotle of economics. Coase sees the world of individuals with individual
property rights and a world where there may be costs incurred by individuals resulting
from actions of other individuals. For example if I dump my sewerage in a stream which
flows to your property. The stream is yours on your property and mine on my property.
By dumping the sewerage you mess things up, and reduce the value of my property. I can
seek a remedy.
115 Friedman, Capitalism, p 3.
116 Friedman, Capitalism, p. 7.
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