For those of us who spend most of our time advocating for liberty, it’s pretty easy to get discouraged. Every day, it seems like the federal government seizes more power—from the NSA’s warrantless spying programs, to Obamacare, to the endless onslaught of labor and environmental regulations that harm small businesses. Are we making any progress, or is the battle a futile one that we wage not for any real hope of winning, but simply because it is the right thing to do and we can’t imagine doing anything else?
When a morose mood like this settles down upon me, I frequently turn to the great thinkers in the liberty movement for inspiration. Currently, I’m in the middle of reading “The Machinery of Freedom,” by David Friedman, recently reprinted in its third edition. I had never read it before, due to a general unavailability of print versions, so when I saw the new edition I was eager to give it a try. David Friedman, it will be remembered, is the son of Milton Friedman, one of the most vocal and articulate advocates for liberty of the 20th century. The apple, as it turns out, did not fall far from the tree. (David’s own son now runs the Seasteading Institute, the prospects of which to me are thrilling beyond words, so the Friedman pedigree is truly a great one.)
Apart from being a very clearly written, lucidly argued defense of a free society, what struck me about “The Machinery of Freedom” was how many of Friedman’s suggestions, predictions and idle musings have become reality in the 40 years since the book’s original publication. If I didn’t know better, it would seem that someone was actually listening to him way back in 1973, and has since worked to put the ideas of a fervent libertarian into practice, despite the continued growth of the United States government.
A few examples will be illustrative. In discussing the problem of traffic congestion and the failures of government transportation policy, Friedman proposes a ride sharing system in which commuters pick up passengers on their way into town for a fee, minimizing the inefficiency of unused seats in cars. This is exactly the business model adopted by Uber and Lyft, and it has been a huge success, despite the attempts by city governments and taxi monopolies to kill it (a reaction Friedman also predicted).
In discussing the wastefulness and inefficiency of the space program, Friedman proposes that private companies could not only travel to space, but do it for a profit. While still relying on subsidies and not exactly profitable yet, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are pretty close to making this a reality, while the U.S. space program has been dramatically scaled back.
Friedman also imagines a world where goods and services are provided to customers free of charge, financed entirely by ad revenue, anticipating the business model of most of the internet well before anyone knew what it was, and suggested that the FCC ought to sell off radio bandwidths to the highest bidder rather than exercise direct control over broadcasters, which, again, is pretty close to what they do now.
These innovations make us freer largely through increasing options available to consumers. More choice is always more freedom, and the decentralization of major industries is having that effect all over the world. Of course, I do not suppose that these changes were made with libertarian theory in mind; that’s not how the world works. Rather, these developments came about because they represented opportunities to do things better, and in so doing, to make more money for the entrepreneurs who pioneered them. In this sense, libertarianism is proving to be pragmatic as well as moral.
It is important not to be overly sanguine about the prospects for liberty. The government remains the greatest threat to personal and economic freedom, and it shows no signs of relinquishing its grip on society any time soon. But it’s equally important not to despair in our efforts and to recognize the gains we’ve made, even if they are small ones. As a wise man once said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
This article originally appeared on Conservative Review.
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