Milton Friedman - Self-Interest & Self-Ownership

[jeffsandychelsea]

How strange, a Milty vid without the 1980's porn music intro.

[IIArchonII]

Can I get this episode on DVD ANYWHERE!?

[billysings]

Look at Donahue's body language during the introduction; at the moment preceding the guest's entrance he lowers his head as he raises his hand, effectively expressing his elemental discredit of his guest. Take a look and see this powerful statement Donahue makes with his body clearly foreshadowing his bias in the coming interview. I wonder if he thought he was being polite.

[jkh933]

This guy is selfish.

[tstruss912]

Friedman's arguments all center around some kind of magical informed consumer. That's how I know he's full of shit: our consumers are as stupid and uninformed as a human being can be, excluding those raised by wolves.

[yamahaU3]

@tstruss912 That maybe true, but are other people more informed than the consumer himself? After all, these other people are only human, just as the consumers are, they are no all knowing god.

Sure an individual doesn't always make the best possible decision for himself, sure he's not perfect, but that is not to say any other people knows any better. He is RELATIVELY the best person to decide what's best for himself.

[tstruss912]

@yamahaU3 I agree with the condition that sometimes you need an expert. Can you conduct trails on drugs? Can you measure poisons in your streams and drinking water? Of course not. It makes sense to delegate that power (which is our power) to the gov. The problem is that we don't control our gov....

[BeethovenWannabe]

Milton should have followed his arguments to their logical conclusion and become an anarchist like his descendants David and Patri Friedman.

[groam6666]

Using force does not mean I as an individual will keep you from doing something. It means that the government through the police on pain of imprisonment or fine can force you to do something. People think in terms of individualism, rather than the state. Donahue didn't seem to understand the difference between a state actor and an individual when talking about suicide prevention. We use to throw people in jail for attempting to commit suicide. It's a slippery slope but Milton is right.

[dragan221]

I totally disagree with Donahue's politics but I admire the civil tone of his interviews and his apparent ability to listen and try to understand the point Milton is making. Same with his interviews of Ayn Rand etc, also posted on youtube.

[billysings]

@dragan221 Donahue's body language at the end of the introduction set anything but a civil tone. During the interview he was even less subtle. Is civility defined only by a lack of violence?

[dragan221]

How much is Donahue's suit? According to his ideas of what people 'should' want to buy, he could have bought a $10 suit from a thrift store that would do the same job at protecting him from elements. So using his logic he overpaid probably at least several 1000% for his suit, far more than people overpay for the car based on it's looks or the image it projects.

[Aliothemage]

Wow, Donahue read Mill's Harm principle on mainstream television? That's amazing when compared to modern programing quality.

[DoctorCapitalist]

I'm not sure about suicide, I would probably restrain them since they person attempting suicide out of stress/depression is obviously not in a good state of mind. 

[darwinkilledgod]

@DoctorCapitalist Why is it a person in a good state of mind can't decide that non-existence is better than their life?

[DoctorCapitalist]

@darwinkilledgod I ain't touching that topic with a ten foot pole lol

I think maybe in the future the suicidal person would thank me for stopping them from killing themselves, if they get out their depression of course.

[darwinkilledgod]

@DoctorCapitalist I think you might be imagining someone very different than I am. A young person sad that their boyfriend/girlfriend dumped them is one thing... but a fair number of suicides are elderly people in pain, or people who have been wracked with depression their whole lives with no end in sight.

Making suicide illegal also changes the structure of incentives in bad ways. Allowing the police to stop a suicide is one thing, putting someone on 24 hour watch is another.

[666sigma]

The same people in favor of prohibition are the same type of people who want to make drugs illegal. Legalizing drugs would bring in revenue, instead of wasting it on the failed drug wars and imprisonment. The product would be safer.  It would be cheaper and lead to less crime by the users and eliminate the dealers and gangs.

The only potential negative is would it cause more drug usage? My guess is that marijuana usage would go up and hard drug usage would be relatively stable.

[funkymonkey1930]

That's so funny, today every car company tries to sell safety, and that's because that's what the market now wants. Uncle Milty right again.

[darwinkilledgod]

@funkymonkey1930 What amazed me was that Donahue tried to characterize Milton's position as that of thinking people are morons who only want fancy lights and colors on their car. That's the leftist position here! People are idiots and won't buy what's good for them...

[Jakearoo14]

I have watched this video 3 times. It is just a wonderful example of someone who fully understands individual liberty.

[Jakearoo14]

Can you post this entire conversation? Thumbs up if you agree...

[erichaynes88]

@Jakearoo14 This whole episode is already on Youtube. Just search "Donahue Friedman"

[BrotherWoody1]

@erichaynes88 Thanks for the reference!

[iainmac2]

Milton is way too clever for any socialist.

[lAljax]

too bad he was not an anarchist, he would have been a good one!

[Killedkennyagain]

@lAljax Interestingly enough, his son David D. Friedman is, see The Machinery of Freedom. Some of his books are available from free on his web site (google: David Friedman Economist, it should be the first result).

[FunctionalRepublic]

I soo wish Milton Friedman was still alive, every time i watch his videos, so i could pick his brain until i pass out of exhaustion.

[2002lees]

@FunctionalRepublic  If you like M. Freidman, You should watch is 10 part series that first ran on PBS just prior to the Reagan election.

Each hour segment starts with a 20 minute presentation by Friedman then a debate with leading professors , politicians and economists of that time.

You even see Frances Fox Piven being destroyed by Friedman

Rightnetwork (dot) com has the entire series posted

[FunctionalRepublic]

@2002lees Thank you!! i was looking for that same series. great debates from a few BU proff.s and a much younger Thomas Sowell if im correct ??

[Hayleyfire929]

I once used to be a Chomskyite. Then I read about Monetarism in Economics A-Level and read up on Friedman, and his arguments were pretty much an epiphany for me.

[Bigturns33]

Read Mises then and you will be blown away. Though mises is very advanced at times.

[needtoalwayslearn]

@Hayleyfire929 The problem is that Chomsky doesn't talk much about epistemology. A rational deductive approach based on natural rights or what seems like a utilitarian approach.

Secondly, you can't really pin him down on anything. He has such a good memory that there are always exceptions to any rule or philosophy that one might think he has.

If there is a book that I would buy by Chomsky, it would be a list like "What I Believe to be True".

[BroBroDude]

"not an anarchist"

fail

[fzqlcs]

Phil Donahue is really the poster boy for the all-knowing elite who holds the common man in contempt. His arrogance is as subtle as a pickled beet on a white sport coat. He simply assumes he knows the answers because of his liberal indoctrination. By contrast, Milton simply exhibited thoughtful brilliance. Phil was just another of the many feather heads Professor Friedman schooled over the years. We need more Friedmans and hopefully some student who watched this video might be the next one.

[Jazzper79]

One of my favorite economists

[argenta86]

Dear Mr. Friedman, can you born again?

[scepticsteve]

The clarity of Friedman is great. I'm sick and tired of people trying to sell their appeals to pot smokers as principled but pull back when it comes to heroin or other strong drugs or make it a "health issue", i.e. let others pay for the health bills of the junkies. You are either for freedom on the principles and accept the consequences or you are an opportunistic political whore.

[HandyMan101]

@kristopheraugust If you did your research you'd know that Donahue has been a advocate for bigger government his whole life. He somehow believes that the people in Washington with all their good intentions, knows better than the individual.

[XF540]

Now this was the best public appearance he ever did. Thank you for this!

The argument of the foreign car companies was superb in that if the american cars sucked gas, were unsafe, dangerous to others and so forth, and the imported cars did, you don't destroy the incentive to change the american cars to become safer, efficient, economical, cheaper. Because if you forbid the imports you would have the makers saying "customers have no choice, why would we change?"

[xjustin523x]

milton friedman has become my hero in the past few days

[niklasbastholmhansen]

@xjustin523x

Im glad to hear that. Have you just become libertarian or have you been that for a while? Regardless of your answer, youre awesome :D

[xjustin523x]

@niklasbastholmhansen its hard to say. i would have to say ive always been a libertarian i just didnt know there was a name for it. as of late ive been studying it a lot more.. the only political ideology in america that isn't riddles with ignorance

[fdny9682]

@xjustin523x  read sowell

[rumco]

@xjustin523x If you like Milton Friedman, look up works of Murray Rothbard, he's more radical, consistent and thorough.

[darwinkilledgod]

@xjustin523x Welcome to the cult! I love the guy too...he's like a Republican who actually understands his principles and sticks to them... well, I guess that means he's not much of a Republican. When I hear Hannity talk about freedom and then laugh at people who want to legalize drugs I cringe.

Friedman will be missed. Thomas Sowell is close, but he's too bitter and partisan compared to Friedman. John Stossel is good...but not as smart.

[billysings]

@darwinkilledgod Thought you might like this Friedman quote: “I am a libertarian with a small 'l' and a Republican with a capital 'R'. And I am a Republican with a capital 'R' on grounds of expediency, not on principle.”

[ChristopherAdderley]

@xjustin523x Great to hear!

[mixmastermeeks]

@xjustin523x It is hard to believe tha so many people think that HE is the devil. It kinda is irritating when you hear people say such horrible things about Friedman. Only a handful of other people have done more in modern times to advance (or at least try to save) freedom.

[jcarey1983]

Milton is so intouch with reality, I wish there were more like him

[BillyJoe1305]

Donahue does a wonderful job of playing devil's advocate while still allowing his interviewee to speak.

[HandyMan101]

@BillyJoe1305 He doesn't play devil's advocate. He literally believes all that socialist crap.

[BillyJoe1305]

@HandyMan101 He did it for people other than Friedman.

[fdny9682]

@HandyMan101 in these twi interviews he embarrased him anf until this day he believes his shit

[capgains]

@HandyMan101 who, milton?

[yamahaU3]

@HandyMan101 I don't think so, I think he is disguising his true position very cleverly, to play the devil's advocate, so to speak. It's his job to provoke the guest and make the show interesting as the host, imagine how boring it would be, if he just agree with everything Dr Friedman says.