Milton Friedman Liberalism Essay

Types of Liberalism Liberalism is probably the most tragically misunderstood word in today’s society. What was once an ideology critical to the foundation of the United States has been transformed into an insult. The reason that this transformation of liberalism is so tragic is because it disregards the fact that liberalism comes in many different forms. The reason for this large variety in subcategories is due to its long history. Because of this variety, figuring out which brand of liberalism someone subscribes to can be difficult. For example, Milton Friedman describes his version of liberalism in his book, Capitalism and Freedom. From this book, we can tell that Friedman is clearly a classical liberal. The first piece of evidence comes

He points out that it was never the government that major improvements to society, whether they be cultural or scientific, do not come from the government, but from individuals. Friedman follows this up by explaining that the government could improve the lives of its citizens by enforcing uniform standards, but this would inadvertently destroy the variety that creates these great individuals (11-12). This section shows that Friedman greatly values the individuals of our society. Specifically, Friedman is saying that it is more important to have a society with a variety of individuals rather than a society with one uniform standard for living. While classical liberalism may not outwardly support Friedman’s claim, it does greatly value the concept of individualism. The final piece of proof can be found in Friedman’s support for the free market. Friedman implies that a free market, or a system similar to a free market, is a requirement for a nation to have a great deal of political freedom. He then gives an example by telling the success of Benthamite liberalism in England (16-17). The laissez faire economic system is one in which the government does not interfere with the market in any way, meaning that it is a system similar to a free market. The free market is very important to classical liberals, so by showing some form of support for classical