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Milton Friedman on Concentrated power and tyranny

I have no right to coerce someone else, because I cannot be sure that I am right and he is wrong.
Say 'No' to Intolerance
Speech, 1991, Liberty, vol. 4, no. 6 (July 1991), p. 17
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  1. The comparison is not fanciful. The young who are conscripted for “good” purposes must be given basic training. Who decides what that shall consist of? What ideas shall they be indoctrinated with? What purposes are “good”? Someone has to assign the youngsters to various activities. Someone has to enforce discipline on them. What a power to fall into the wrong hands. What a power for the wrong hands to seek.
    Universal National Service
    Column, 1979, Newsweek (1979); reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, May 15, 1979, p. 11349, introduced by Representative Ron Paul of Texas, who says Friedman “recently” made these arguments “in Newsweek.” The reprint gives no issue date and omits part of the opening paragraph, Congressional Record, May 15, 1979, p. 11349
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  2. Well, I have always argued that you will not solve problems by electing the right man to the White House. Certainly not by electing the wrong man. … The only way you will ever solve problems, in my opinion, and move in the direction we want to move is by making it in the political interest of the wrong people to do the right thing.
    The Open Mind
    Interview, 1977, The Open Mind, hosted by Richard Heffner, Episode “A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy” (May 3, 1977)
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  3. It's nice to elect the right people, but that isn't the way you solve things. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right things.
    About changing congress
    Speech, 1977
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