I consider myself a scientific person, encouraged by empirical evidence; so, at the surface Friedman’s argument for capitalism is compelling. Several problems arise, however, upon a more mindful take of his words. His examples are flawed, his history skewed, his definitions conflated.

First, the indigenous tribes of the world may object to his “crystal-clear” account of history, stating that only societies that exploit self-interest have escaped grinding poverty; although that is a fairly minor point. More surprising is his forgetfulness of the labor movement’s angelic role in fighting against the mechanical greed of corporations to give us what we know and love as the weekend. Remember Friday would be like any other day if not for the labor movement.  Social movements have historically focused on more fairly spreading power, wrestling it away from the mucky hands of the wealth-corralling elite few.

One might say, “Well, the social movements are acting under greed and self-interest as well.” Friedman confounds the self-interest of money with the self-interest of human fulfillment and expression. Certain lines of philosophy would suggest there is no such thing as a selfless act. The primary question then becomes, which part of the self is doing the acting; there are many facets to the mind, some seek fulfillment through charity, others through exploitation. To flip Friedman’s examples, Einstein did not formulate his theory because of the exploitative greed I’m talking about; the Ford example is a little trickier, but a good idea is a good idea. No, the definition of greed and self-interest that comes to mind is the corporation’s, and now society’s, complete abandonment of reasonable compassion and humanity; I’m talking about Metalclad suing Mexico for being denied a toxic waste dump; Disney paying Haitians two dollars a day; lobbyist upon lobbyist changing policies for industries’ sake. Let’s not confuse Einstein’s beautiful mind with Wal-Mart’s soulless machinations.

Last, assuming everything he said was perfectly true, let’s not fall into the old logical fallacy that it has never been so it never will. True, it’s cause for skepticism, but look at our own lives; are we not at times surprised at the strength we find within us, strength that was seemingly not there before? We almost certainly will not reach a greedless society in our lifetime, or even the next. But progress is progress. If we hold the notion of a society built around goodwill as a concrete goal, we can make moves towards a time where people voluntarily live according to the old maxim, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

picture from http://flickr.com/photos/bjhokanson/