Milton Friedman - Socialist

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

At 04:39 PM 6/9/98 -0700, Michael Perelman wrote:
>David was not a mean spirited person; he believed in his
>anarchism/capitalism and he had a good sense of humor.  He was then
>critical of his father for supporting the right of the government to
>regulated drugs like thalidomide.  David insisted that no profit
>maximizing company would ever sell a bad product lest it harm its
>reputation.  Like I said, he had a good sense of humor.

Well, I was told that the commandant of the Auschwitz camp was a rather
cultured person as well.  He would play classical music to silence off the
screams of people being gassed next door.  The VonBrauns and hi-tech
wizards that pioneered modern rocketry also created the Dora "Mittelwerke"
- a murderous forced labor camp manufacturing V-2 missiles.  

The Pinochets and Polpots were probably very sincere individuals too. For
that matter, General Sherman reportedly had a very warm attitude toward the
Southerners.

In the world of charming tyrants, I have less and less  problems with
burning intellectuals and leaders at stake for the consequences of their
policies - whether intended or not - their personal charm notwithstanding.
I could show some sense of humor too, for example asking them if they would
like a smoke before the pyre is lit.  Human robots coldly inflicting misery
on others in the name of abstract principles or ideology are probably the
most scary monsters - real or imaginary - that walked on the surface of
this planet.

Regards,

Wojtek Sokolowski