The book’s major theme is the role of competitive capitalism as being a form of economic freedom being a prerequisite for political freedom. Uniform mediocrity would be substituted for the “variety essential for that experimentation which can bring tomorrow’s laggards above today’s mean” (Friedman 1982, 12). While government actions such as uniform housing standards or schooling, government could improve the lives of many, but it would be trading progress for stagnation. Government cannot duplicate individual actions. There is another reason for limiting and decentralizing government power: the great advances of civilization have never come from a centralized state: “Their achievements were the product of individual genius, of strongly held minority views, of a social climate permitting variety and diversity” (Friedman 1982, 11). The second principle is that government must be dispersed: “If government is to exercise power, better in the country than in the state, better in the state than in Washington” (Friedman 1982, 11). We need to rely primarily on the private sector as a check against government power. Beyond this major function, it may allow us to achieve goals which could not be achieved individually, but any such use of government is dangerous. It must preserve law and order, enforce private contracts, and foster competitive markets. The first is that the scope of government must be limited the major function has to be protection against foreign powers and citizens. Two principles in the American Constitution can help us enjoy the benefits of government while avoiding the threat to freedom. The free man asks wants to know how government can be used to achieve goals and protect freedoms, and how to stop government from squashing the freedoms it is meant to preserve. There is no national purpose except the consensus of the citizen’s purposes. To both sides, Friedman says, “To the free man, the country is the collection of individuals who compose it, not something over and above them” (Friedman 1982, 10). One suggests a paternalistic state, the other suggests the state is a master. Friedman thinks neither side of the statement “expresses a relation between the citizen and his government that is worthy of the ideals of free men in a free society” (Friedman 1982, 10). JFK’s famous line, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” produced controversy over its origin, but not over its content.
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