“Well first of
all, tell me: Is there some society you know that doesn’t run on greed? You
think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What
is greed? Of course, none of us are greedy, it’s only the other fellow who’s
greedy. The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The
great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus.
Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford
didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in
which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you’re talking
about, the only cases in recorded history, are where they have had capitalism
and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worse off,
worst off, it’s exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that. So
that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear, that there is no
alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people
that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by the
free-enterprise system.” ― Milton Friedman
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