Uncle Miltie Answers the President

When I became interested in politics I was a muddle headed quasi-liberal, as I suspect were most of you. It's not that I was a raging leftist, I wasn't, but I did care about the direction of the country and I did (and still do) care about the plight of the less fortunate. I thought most people were basically good and I also thought giving people a leg up was good for them and good for society. I had no idea what motivated people, what incentives they responded to, or the pitfalls of dependency. And I certainly had no idea what was the proper role of government. Milton Friedman changed that for me.

After last night's State of the Union with all of Obama's proposed government meddling, interventions, subsidies etc., I thought it might be a good time to revisit Professor Friedman. There's nothing new about what Obama is proposing. Utopians have been around since Plato and they all have one thing in common: In their societies the elites will have all the power and they will spill blood to keep it.

So, if you haven't done it already, I urge you to read "Free to Choose" and "Capitalism and Freedom" (if you're in the mood for something heavier). Like so many great works, it's as if they were written yesterday. Also you can click on the header and catch Uncle Miltie on Donahue back in 1980 (his jokes suck but hey, he's a college professor).