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by Doug MataconisMilton Friedman with one of the best explanations of the benefits of free markets and free trade ever:
H/T: Cafe Hayek
“It's time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, "We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government." This idea that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power, is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.” Ronald Reagan
October 20, 2007
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3 Comments
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But what about the job of the man who actually spends a week crafting a crappy $200 pencil?
Comment by somebody — October 20, 2007 @ 12:50 pmActually, that was Leonard Read’s explanation. He was the one who wrote “I, Pencil”.
Comment by UCrawford — October 21, 2007 @ 10:07 amThanks for the added information Crawford; good to know. Here’s a link to the full text.
Whether he was the original author of this homily or not, I always love hearing Uncle Milty talk. I fondly remember watching his Free to Choose series.
Comment by Akston — October 23, 2007 @ 12:39 am