From time to time we have discussed the group favouring extension of the principles and methods of the market. In IC 20 there was a piece entitled Friedman or Free Men? which discussed some of the ideas put forward by Milton Friedman, and in 1976 there was issued The Ideology of Freedom, a paper based… read more »
The present British government is remarkable for its sense of direction. One may not approve of the road it is taking but it is difficult to deny that, to a greater extent than most governments for many years past, it is following a planned course. The impression it creates is conveyed by a recent cartoon… read more »
Several of the anecdotes put forward to illuminate the history of ideas have been shown to be false; Galileo didn’t drop them, Voltaire didn’t say it. One we have not yet heard disproven is that during the Seventeenth Century a French minister of finance named Colbert asked a group of merchants what he could do… read more »
In the TLS for 6 September 1985 Anthony Giddens reviews a book, by the late Alvin W. Gouldner, entitled Against Fragmentation; the Origins of Marxism and the Sociology of Intellectuals (OUP 1985). The author was Max Weber, Research Professor of Social Theory at Washington University, St. Louis, and a winner, with an earlier work, of… read more »
Whether there are any free men or free women may be debatable, but there are certainly two Friedman. David the son wrote “The Machinery of Freedom” and Milton the father wrote (among other works) Capitalism and Freedom (Phoenix Books, University of Chicago Press, 1963). Milton Friedman’s theories have been said to be the inspiration for… read more »
The party pamphlet Questions of the Day (1978) tells us that “in Britain about 90 per cent of the adult population are workers, retired workers or the dependants of workers” (p. 5). That amounts to something over forty million people. The same pamphlet says capitalism “can never be made to work in the interests of… read more »
TENDER IS THE… A new treatment for pain in the lower back entails an injection of meat tenderiser into the affected area. If we had been treated like that we’d keep a wary eye out for anyone coming near with a carving knife – or a knife and fork, for that matter. SUPPORT FOR JARGON… read more »
The communist parties work in the belief that if they could only gain power they could establish a society which, if not fully communist, would be nearer to that condition than is existing society. Given power they would, they believe, be able to lead, drive, educate or manipulate the general body of the people into… read more »
The concept of anarchy, a society without government (one correspondent has used “nonarchy,” which we had not met before), provokes speculation about its contrary, a society using every form of government. What could such a system be called – omarchy? The concept comes complete with difficulties, not least among them the relations between the different… read more »
A problem facing systematic ideology (our opponents of the [anarcho-] Socialist Party tend to be less aware that it is a problem facing them too) is whether it is possible to demonstrate the existence of a world “out there.” If it can be shown that there is, as there seems to be, a world independent… read more »