Milton Friedman was a brilliant Chicago based economist who won a noble prize in economics. He was somewhat of a rhetorical genius as well. One can see many recording of his debates with opponents in the 1970s and how he effortlessly demolishes his opponents.
Friedman honed a special debate tactic we frequently see conservative pundits such as Ben Shapiro employ today, which is to take an overly literal interpretation of what your opponent says and then employ a Reductio ad absurdum argument.
Due to his brilliance in debate and contribution to economics as well as appeal to the zeitgeist of the time Milton Friedman has tremendous impact.
One of the most damaging ideas he pushed was the private enterprise only need to concern themselves with maximizing profits for shareholders. Friedman’s idea was that companies simply have to follow the rules, that is it. But simply following the rules to the letter does not make you moral. There is such as thing as the spirit of the law.
Real societies are based on people having some sort of moral code to follow. You don’t screw over people just because it is technically allowed by the law. When you turn morality to be equal to whatever the law books say, you begin a slipperely slope where everything has to be detailed in the law. Where contracts between companies and people…
