milton friedman

[red head]

this man seems to be the absolute extremity of capitalism. he basically says that business should run everything with no government intervention, if government exists at all; no tarrifs (different from most american right-wingers) and no foreign intervention; legalization of drugs, but he advocates the use of extremely strict punishment to deter people from commiting crimes. this guy is extremely smart, and i trust what he says as pertains to the current system, i.e.: i believe what he says about how the market crash could have been avoided. but as far as how he envisions things working, he's an idiot. his system would lead to business owners having all the power, people aquiring power just because their parents had money, lack of education for the poor etc. no one would give money to charity because it would give financial advantage to their competitors. basically, it would lead to an elite group with almost absolute power over everyone else. oh, and mr. friedman has little concern for such useless concepts as "social security", "cost of living", and "the good of the people". what do all the commies and cappies here think of him?

[peaccenicked]

damned neo liberal ideologue. makes me like IP

[Supermodel]

For all the Friedman they made me study in University, none of it stuck in my head. Anyone who can bore the pants off you is not destined to be great.

Anyhoo, what a lot of extreme capitalism ignores is that there are many who cannot be productive through no fault of their own. A purely capitalist society tends to cast these folks off the cliffs. In addition to conquering less developed nations with armed opression, the term "laissez-faire" loses all meaning.

[vox]

Friedman is nothing but the garden variety libertarian. Indeed, Sen's work on famine stands in counterpoint to Friedman's wishful thinking.

He's a right-wing hero, of course, and a pillar of the Chicago School.

Consider Friedman at about the same level as Rand.

vox

[El Che]

I think he is at about the same level as a pety theif.

[red head]

now i dislike what he has to say, but comparing him to ayn rand is like comparing dale earnhart jr. to your mother driving a mini van. i hate auto racing just as i hate neo-liberalism, but its easy to tell the innovators from the crazy-elitist-underqualified-egotistical-manipulative-talentless hacks. remember this guys been at it since at least the 40's, so was at the forefront of the neo-liberal ideology. i'm confused on one point though that someone might be able to help me with: if he's an anarchist-capitalist, isn't it a contradition to say "Only fear of punishment, not a sense of justice and morality, will lead people to obey the law"?

[BatistaNationalista]

Milton Friedman had very good economic ideas, however it is evident that those ideas cannot be enforced with his liberal positions on personal issues.