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Milton Friedman on Freedom and equality

In my opinion, a society that aims for equality before liberty will end up with neither equality nor liberty. A society that aims first for liberty will not end up with equality, but it will end up with a closer approach to equality than any other kind of system that has ever been developed.
Milton Friedman Speaks: The Role of Government in a Free Society
Speech, 1978
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  1. A society that puts equality—in the sense of equality of outcome—ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests. On the other hand, a society that puts freedom first will, as a happy by-product, end up with both greater freedom and greater equality.
    Free to Choose
    Book, 1980, Ch. 5 “Created Equal”, p. 148
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  2. The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both.
    Created Equal
    Television, 1980, PBS, vol. 5
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  3. You can only aim at equality by giving some people the right to take things from others. And what ultimately happens when you aim for equality is that A and B decide what C should do for D, except that they take a bit of commission off on the way.”
    Milton Friedman Speaks: The Role of Government in a Free Society
    Speech, 1978
    Not yet checkedWatch it

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