Thursday, August 18, 2011

A "Some People" System?


"The fundamental principle of socialism is that its is appropriate to use force to organize society, to take from some and give to others. The government has nothing to give. The government is simply a mechanism which has the power to take from some to give to others. It is a way in which some people can spend other peoples' money for the benefit of a third party - and not so incidentally themselves". - Milton Friedman (1)

Hence "use force to organize society" is in essence the idea that freedom is put aside for the benefit of the state. That your free actions need removed as the state knows what is really in your best interest. The question arises in that "who" makes those decisions? The decisions are made by state: "...government is simply a mechanism which has the power to take from some to give to others". Who makes up this state that makes these decisions? Answer: "It is a way in which some people.....".

Who are these "some people"? Next, is the relinquishment of freedom of the masses to these "some people" a good idea? These "some people" are strictly benevolent? These "some people" are equipped to take from one group to give to another group? That these "some people" can mold a economic-politic that creates a "greater good"? Finally, are not these "some people" merely "the state"? In the final analysis is not the "state" merely a collection of these "some people"?

Who wants to become these "some people" and why? Are they better than James and Jane Goodfellow? Are they smarter than James and Jane Goodfellow? Do they hold some special power greater than James and Jane Goodfellow? -Or- do those who want to become these "some people" merely want the power, resources, and fame that accompany being "some people"?

Those who want to become these "some people", do they vilify the captains of industry, the champions of freedom, the philosophers of spontaneous order merely to switch places? Stated alternatively, do those who want to become these "some people", do they merely vilify the free enterprise system and the players within the system, as they in essence want to supplant the system and the players within the system? Stated in yet another alternative fashion, do these "some people" put forth an alternate system in order to gain the power previously held by others in another system [free enterprise system]?

Maybe a better view is this: did circa 1776, a free individual in a free enterprise system supplant a previous non-free individual in a "some people" system?

Notes:

(1) The Invisible Hand in Economics and Politics, Milton Friedman, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1981, p11.

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