[Choose Ye This Day]

This is a transcript of the first episode of Friedman's landmark 1980 TV series on the basics of capitalist economics.

Yes, it's very long, but well worth the read--especially for those of us that were too young to watch/remember the original PBS series.

Please feel free to comment on specific parts of the transcript.

I will post one of the other 9 episode transcripts every day or so. If you like, I can PING you.

[Christian4Bush]

bump
PING request

[GianniV]

When was the last time PBS aired this! I'd bet at least 20 years ago. Capitalism is not warmly received on PBS.

[econprof]

The entire series is available on dvd for a reasonable price at http://www.ideachannel.com/shop/shopftc.htm. The discussions were updated in 1990. The shorter 1990 set is also available at the same url.

I've watched these many times, and I recommend them highly.

[Choose Ye This Day]

I want human beings separately and individually to have control of their lives. I don't believe that a minority that differs with me should have the right to take money out of my pocket to do research for them. They should go out and try to persuade people to contribute to them. I should be free to get people to contribute to me to present my ideas. But the idea of having some kind of an official government agency that is going to finance dissidents. In the first place, anybody who has any sense of realism about the way government operates at all will know that will end up in the hands of the majority and not the minority.

[ChadGore]

I really like the one with Donald Rumsfeld in the panel discussion. Back in 198? Rummy was CEO of a company and he was asked to talk about government red tape.

[GeronL]

I prefer Ludwig Von Mises and Murray Rothbard

[Choose Ye This Day]

Typical socialist remark from Harrington: "I think people over 65 years of age in the United States today are freer now because of Medicare. I do not think that the freedom to die from the lack of medicine was a very good thing."

[true_blue_texican]

can you add me to the ping list?
thanks

[Minus_The_Bear]

Watch EVERY part of Free To Choose Online at Google Video. They also have several other Friedman interviews and videos including a 2005 interview with Charlie Rose. Pass these on...

[ChadGore]

1980s Rummy here.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=749656471597681962&q=free+to+choose

[steelyourfaith]

bttt

[Chesterbelloc]

I'm going to look for this on Netflix. I had a economics class based upon this series for one quarter back in 80/81 during my sophomore year at the University of Oregon. Each class we would watch an episode and then there would be a debate between a conservative and liberal from the Eugene community. Freedom was hard to argue against.

[Zon]

Ping me please.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Great question from Prof. Friedman, and one we should still be asking ourselves 26 years later:

How is it that a government of the people, supposedly, does things which a very large fraction of the people would really prefer not to have done, such as overtax them, over govern them, over regulate them?