Thomas Sowell Dismantles Egalitarianism (Frances Fox Piven Edition)

In this clip from the 1980 Free To Choose, socialist Frances Fox Piven tangles with Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell. Sowell, in particular, is incisive with his discussion of "process" versus aspiration -- concluding that whatever the purported social goals, liberty suffers.

We thought this would be interesting in light of the recent dustup between The New York Times and Fox News (Glenn Beck) on the subject of Piven.

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[show0me0a0GOD]

It's so frightening how the LW extremists have corrupted thought. I'm just a year younger than your daughter and it's scary how they've managed to get into the heads of my generation by labeling classic American and capitalist values as simple greed and racism. They ALMOST got to me. Luckily, I was able to see the cracks and hypocrisy, as well as the subtle underlying pinko "philosophy". Just don't give up, my friend.

[Garrett Mills]

Seeing Friedman and Sowell side by side like this is just incredible.

[take942]

There is now a pop-up ad on many Youtube videos that asks you to vote yes or no about "Should GOP Fight Obama on gun control?"

How do we know that no matter which choice one clicks, it votes "NO"? ...and even if one clicks the "x" to delete it would vote "NO". I raise issue this as Liberals will stop at nothing to advance their agendas. We see it in everything.

[zorg zarg]

I was wondering if you could say more about the the "undesirable government interference" that capitalism has had to deal with in capitalist societies. Please give specific examples.

[Akellams]

Read Sowells book..."Dismantling America"...we all should read this!

[watkinsj81]

This is just a clarifier when you say total submission. on whos' part? As far as environmental disaster I believe that sustainability is an idea that the free market will pursue. I believe my country would have already been using more renewable energy if the free market was encumbered with governmental regulation.

[spumigena]

It have had its uses yes, However, it's a flawed system and needs to be replaced since it simply corrupts and stagnates development. Most of all its a confusing system for the ordinary user and causes frustration and anxiety among the population.

What I am saying is, that we must stop use it as a global trading system and start bartering with mutual benefits as goal on macro scale. In the micro economy I can see it's uses but it will eventfully fade away when people becomes aware of the illusion

[spumigena]

I don't see that I'm confusing the two terms, since currency is simply the manifestation of the abstract and therefore essentially the same as money.

What the monetary religion fails to recognize is other. It demands total submission and have no sense of respect for nature or human life.

And therefore, the "free market" is the worst environmental disaster that we have experienced in all time. It talks about the freedom of exploitation for profit. and in that sense, it's a bad game to play.

[spumigena]

You are talking about the fruits of oil exploitation. And it is single most destructive behavior mankind have brought onto itself.

[watkinsj81]

You 're confusing money with currency. If you only have a fiat currency as money, then money can have a specific value, but value is subjective. adam smith's insight is that in a non-coercive voluntary trade both parties will trade two commodities if it is beneficial to do so. Capitalism existed before currency. in a truly liberated voluntary society each individual is left to trade for what they deem as beneficial. That is the essence of a "free market".

[PoorOldNorm]

Capitalism, even with undesirable Government interference, has still given the largest number of people in history, the greatest standard of living in history. Just look at the progression of technological innovations alone over the last 150 years! While the US has promoted the rise of the largest middle class in history- the Socialists, or "Anti-Capitalists," over the same time period have murdered the most people in history.

Capitalism allows me to provide for my family. Capitalism ROCKS!

[Marine475]

Yeah barter works well except when you wish to trade your perfectly fine let's say microprocesors for cheesburger at mcdonalds. It worked for last 5000 years so as far money goes it's probably the best thing every created.