Milton Friedman – What is America? Please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
ID: 1113025 • Letter: M
Question
Milton Friedman – What is America?
Please watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwDhx1XkXX0
Critical Thinking skill:
Write a 750 word summary of the lecture.
Answer the following questions:
What ethical considerations were discussed in the video?
Are the questions posed in this video still relevant today in light of the current business environment?
How can this lecture help you to become a better business person provide two good examples on how this lecture material could change the way you do business
Explanation / Answer
In his lecture, Milton Friedman examines the changes that America has undergone throughout the years it has been in existence. Friedman seeks to determine whether America still possesses the pride it acquired in early years when it was known as the land of abundant opportunities , great freedom and prosperity of its people who worked in cooperation to achieve their distinct objectives regardless of their differences in race , beliefs and origin.
Friedman argues that over the recent decades, America has undergone tremendous changes that will alter its good old image unless the people decide to revert to the right path. America has changed from the land of promise to a land of increasing bureaucracy and diminishing freedom. There are now more wrangling groups that seek to gain control of the political landscape , divisive tendencies that are jeopardizing existence in diversity and yielding open conflict. This is one of the ethical issues that arise from Friedman’s lecture. He attributes this situation to too much involvement of the government in social and economic sectors. If this trend continues, the country will find itself in a point of no return where liberty and creativity will be illusions.
Friedman analyzes how the prosperities that America achieved in the early years and which are still visible today occurred. He argues that these achievements were attained with minimal government interference and high values and morality embedded in the society. For example, America has made great milestones in Agriculture. This happened when the population abandoned subsistence farming and left farming to handful people, less than 5 percent, who took it as a commercial enterprise able to feed the rest of the population and leave a great deal for export. According to Friedman , this landmark accomplishment was realized through a free market system with the role of the government being very peripheral such as provision of agricultural extension services and land-grant colleges. In brief, the major source of the enormous achievement in Agriculture was basically the fact that Americans were free to pursue their individual interests in their preferred ways without interference from the government.
Another key point Friedman raises is immigration, an issue that is a major source of controversy in the contemporary America. Over the 19th century, America received millions of immigrants, from which majority of the generation represented in his audience descend. Immigration was unrestricted during this period. People who migrated into the country did so in hope that they would have a better life for themselves and their posterity. They brought new ideas, opportunities and prosperity to America.
Immigration is controlled in the present America and illegal immigration is on the rise. Friedman wonders why immigration has to be restricted and termed as a bad thing yet history shows that a good deal of America’s successes in the early 19th century is credited to the contributions of immigrants. He ascribes this inconsistency to introduction of welfare state where the government controls the social and economic landscapes, for instance, by guaranteeing a certain minimum level of income or subsistence whether one works or not. In this regard, it is nearly impossible to have unrestricted immigration based on the cost repercussions they tax paying citizenry would have to bear. In this regard , Friedman supports illegal migration because illegal immigrants would not be eligible for social security and other benefits of the welfare state yet they would take jobs that most Americans would be unwilling to take. This is another ethical issue. Though the viewpoint in favor of illegal immigration makes economic sense, it raises ethical squabbles as it amounts to undermining of law and morality.
The questions raised in this lecture are quite relevant in light of the contemporary business environment. Friedman underscores the need for freedom and strong ethical practices in economic markets, rather than government control. He advocates a price system which past experience has shown that it can operate and coordinate activities of millions of the people in the world with great efficiency. His perspective is quite significant in the present business environment where majority nations are increasingly making efforts to shift to fully free-market economies without watering down the need for ethical practices in economic sectors .
The lecture can help me become a better business person. Throughout the lecture, Friedman emphasizes that greatness in the American society was largely achieved through a system of values and ethics and in social and economic institutions as opposed to government regulation. Thus, Friedman’s lecture espouses the need for values and ethics in all spheres of life , which I find vital to become a better business person. Furthermore, Friedman throughout the lecture shows the importance of diversity. Just like America’s prosperity is a product of contribution s of people of diverse races, origin and religion, I get an important insight that I would be a better business person and promote creativity and innovation in my business life by respecting and accommodating individuals with whom we work towards achieving common goals regardless of their unique backgrounds and attributes.