Philosophy discussion

Being free to choose is the great ethical issue that economics has faced since its very beginning. This book by Milton and Rose Friedman, published in 1980, explores the relationship between the state and the individual, between freedom and central planning.

The inflationary crises of the 1970s shattered the illusion that government intervention in the economy was the solution to every problem. The more governments intervene in markets, the more individual freedom is reduced, while regulations and taxes increase. The state ends up undermining the spirit of initiative and becoming the sole arbiter in the distribution of prosperity.

The Friedmans' solution is a return to freedom, markets, and voluntary cooperation among individuals.

There is, however, one aspect of this book that I do not share. Freedom is not merely a means to achieve prosperity; viewed in that way, it would be a rather small thing. Freedom is the only condition that allows human beings to pursue their dreams, confront their limitations, and live a fulfilling life.

I wish we would give ALL non-human animals the opportunity to be free. Instead, we only provide this precious priviledge to a select few based on nothing but personal biases and irrelevant "tradition." We still live in a very speciesist world.

Non-human animals are often seen as a means of gaining said prosperity mentioned; an object, a commodity, a slave.

Please join me in ending this reality!
https://headlines.peta.org/end-specie...

Cassidy wrote: "Please join me in ending this reality!..."

Whew! I've met some starry-eyed idealists, but you sure take da cake. Talk about quixotic!

I can only add my purely theoretical appeal to yours, and hope that fortune smiles on your endeavors someday.

(meanwhile, when do we eat)

p.s. nifty essay below on how capitalism dupes citizens into imaginary freedom --which in truth is merely boogwaah choice proffered by 'free' markets.

https://therepublicofletters.substack...

The author teases out these glimmerings from the publishing industry where his career began.

Or rather, the reader does.

Liberty vs License (Freedom)?

The difference between liberty and license is responsibility. The obese individual is not free, nor the alcoholic, nor the drug addict when they no longer have the mental capacity to overcome their desire. They live under freedom but lack the discipline and responsibility to properly care for themselves. On the other hand, a prisoner may experience a sense of liberty—as displayed by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Nelson Mandela—without external freedom. The state openly arrested them; these individuals used their human dignity to overcome the system that oppressed them.

https://IBelieveUS.com argues Free Market Capitalism emerged from Liberty...not Freedom...which are the tents and squalor you see in the downtown of major cities.

re: [Booksailor, 2 comments 0 friends]

Ahoy thar, BookSailor. Welcome. New Goodreads account, I see. Glad to meet you. I'm always ready to admire a man who speaks his beliefs.

Let's plunge in --in a purely friendly manner -- to your remarks so far:

BookSailor wrote: "Free Market Capitalism..."

And yet, the so-called 'free' market requires the most invasive government regulations as prerequisites, in order for it to exist whatsoever. The whole idea of 'free market' labors under this convenient but erroneous misnomer of 'free'. It thrives at all, thanks to the very opposite practice of any concept of freedom. It's rather a 'hothouse orchid'.

BookSailor wrote: "The difference between liberty and license is responsibility. The obese individual is not free, nor the alcoholic, nor the drug addict when they no longer have the mental capacity to overcome their desire. They live under freedom but lack the discipline and responsibility to properly care for themselves...."

H'mmm. But surely, this is taking too much judgment of someone else's condition, onto your own shoulders? It is not for us to say when someone else is 'truly free' versus 'not free' and 'desperately needing' our intervention. I don't think we can presume.

So I must demur from the conclusion you draw here. Though I do admire the reference to Solzhenitsyn , (who is a hero of mine).

BookSailor wrote: "not Freedom...which are the tents and squalor you see in the downtown of major cities...."

And yet, 'free market' tomfoolery is exactly the root cause from which such slovenly conditions emerge.

Back to you for rebuttal!

Feliks wrote: "re: [Booksailor, 2 comments 0 friends]

Ahoy thar, BookSailor. Welcome. New Goodreads account, I see. Glad to meet you. I'm always ready to admire a man who speaks his beliefs.

Let's plunge in --..."

How can Solzhenitsyn be your hero? You use the name and image of the man who represents the worst of Soviet repression, yet you claim that Solzhenitsyn is your hero. My friend, you're terribly confused.

Anyway, since I don't think you've studied Koine Greek, Timothy 6:10 does not say that wealth is the root of all evil. The text says that the love of money—that is, greed—is the root of all kinds of evil. Those are two very different things.

The key word is φιλαργυρία (philargyria), which literally means "love of silver," that is, love of money, greed, or avarice. It does not mean "wealth" (ploutos, πλοῦτος).

Feliks wrote: "re: [Booksailor, 2 comments 0 friends]

Ahoy thar, BookSailor. Welcome. New Goodreads account, I see. Glad to meet you. I'm always ready to admire a man who speaks his beliefs.

Let's plunge in --..."

Felix, or whatever your real name is, I want to apologize to you. I have been unpleasant on more than one occasion.

I realize that, for many people in the United States, Marxism arrived mainly in its poetic form, as a universal answer to inequality. I also realize how little is known in the U.S. about the horrors of communist regimes and the damage caused by what was called “real socialism.” I understand that, for you, Felix Dzerzhinsky is probably just a character from television fiction. From my point of view, however, he is one of the worst criminals in history, on a par with Himmler.

Here in Europe, we experienced Marxism in its criminal form, and we have often looked to the United States as a hope for freedom. I wrote "Zombies of Marx" precisely because of the recent spread, throughout the English-speaking world, of movements that many Europeans see as symbols of a violent and authoritarian ideology.

As I told you, I am Italian. We did not experience a communist dictatorship in Italy, but we did have the largest and most organized communist party in Western Europe, openly financed by the Soviet Union. We had to confront communists politically in order to avoid ending up on the other side of the Iron Curtain. I assure you that you would not have enjoyed living there, and many Italians felt the same way. After Fascism, communism could have destroyed our country.

That is why I sometimes become irritated when confronted with certain forms of communist propaganda, and I apologize for that.

I sincerely hope that your experience of Marxism will be different from the one I witnessed. However, I can tell you that you are already adopting some of the attitudes that I have often seen among the most fanatical Marxists in Europe. You know relatively little about Marxist literature and, if you will allow me to say so, not always very accurately. Yet you often present yourself as an expert.

Many European Marxists have made the same mistake because they confuse Marxist literature with Holy Scripture. They treat reading as if it were collecting stamps. Reading a book only matters if you understand it, not if you merely skim through it absentmindedly.

If you have academic ambitions, try to be more precise in your scholarship. Do not try to bend other people's ideas—or even the New Testament itself—to fit your opinions. There is no need to rely constantly on arguments from authority. European Marxists did that because they were fanatics.

Avoid fanaticism. It is a terrible disease.

Do not be elitist. It is not a wise approach, because on social media you never really know who you are talking to. There are places in the world where communists, socialists, and central planners of every kind have caused enormous suffering. For some people, buying a book is not something that can be taken for granted, as it may be for you and me.

And besides, what is the point of reading so many books if you have not understood them?

Anyway, I have said what I wanted to say. I would advise you to change your avatar, but that is entirely your decision.

As for Marxism, I will tell you honestly: I believe you are wasting your time chasing an illusion.

Defend your freedom. It is worth it.