I was just reading a really interesting series of letters between Walter Block and Milton Friedman where Friedman calls Block a “fanatic” for his anarcho-capitalist views. As Block points out Milton’s son, David, is also an anarcho-capitalist. Milton doesn’t answer in the letter, so does anyone here know of anything on Milton’s opinions of his son?
It would definitely be interesting to hear a first-hand account of those dinner table arguments.
Wow, that’s a gem of an exchange, thanks for posting it. Walter Block is a pretty amazing individual, he’s like a winsome attack dog when he spots cognitive dissonance.
Hilarious.
Block mentioned this Hutt book. https://mises.org/book.aspx?Id=29972 - [:O]!
If this could find it’s way on line, that would be amay-zing.
Block was really firing on all cylinders in that article.
I especially like his quote on poverty.
I think that the best way to provide “a basic minimum level of
living” for the poor is to establish the free enterprise system, not a
negative income tax nor any other form of coercive welfare. If I were
placed behind a Rawlsian “veil of ignorance” and told I would have
grandchildren who might be poor, and I wanted to protect their lives,
I would surely pick capitalism, not a welfare state, as their best protection.
powerful stuff.
David Friedman is a member of the Mises Community, and pops in from time to time. I am a big fan of his views on anarcho-capitalism, in some ways, more so than I am sympathetic to Rothbard’s conception of an ancap society.
Dr Block is charming as hell in those letters; not an ounce of phoniness either.
It’s available at my school library. I think I’m going to give it a look.
David Friedman, Milton’s son, is an anarcho-capitalist. I’m about half way through his “Machinery of Freedom.” Its very lucidly written and easy to understand. I highly recommend it!
[Epic Guitar Solo]
Man block goes on forever and ever writing though…
It was interesting, but I felt neither side really argued very well (great writers though). I was rooting for Block, but there were times when I thought friedman was winning.
Friedman:
Please specify for me in not more than two brief paragraphs how you perceive a feasible transition in a nongradual way from the present state of affairs to your ideal, justified state of affairs.
Block:
[10 paragraphs]
Block did apologise, and he was right.
It would have been a lot shorter if Block would have simply said, “wtf u talkin’ 'bout?”
Thanks for leading me onto that, it was a lovely read, although by the end I had very little respect for Friedman.
Perhaps Block hadn’t yet discovered teh internetz at this point. I woulda written, “lol wut?”
That was a quite nice collection of letters. Thanks for finding it and sharing it. It’s amazing how many gems are lying around in the open, waiting to be pounced on.
David Friedman is not a pure anarcho capitalist. He thinks that a Government is necessary for National Defense.
In the chapter on National Defense, he just confesses that he doesn’t have a good solution for national defense.
That doesn’t mean he is endorsing government in any way.
He is a utilitarian when it comes to Anarcho-Capitalism, not of a Natural Rights perspective.
He’s not a real utilitarian in any way. He simply states, that economic arguments are more or less leading to utilitarian arguments, and since economics as a sience is far more advanced than ethics, he’s merely taking this route. He even admits to being more of a ‘rights-based libertarian’ at heart, but that he as an economist has more knowledge about what practically works instead of how society is supposed o be.
A subjective ethicist not an objective ethicist.
Someone’s gonna have to explain the those terms to me. Or at least link me to an article. Grazie!