弗裏德曼論貪婪
http://standardfreepress.com/blog/?p=4572
Donahue: When you see around the globe the mal-distribution of wealth, the desperate plight of millions of people in underdeveloped countries, when you see so few haves and so many have-nots, when you see the greed and the concentration of power, did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism and whether greed’s a good idea to run on?
Donahue:你看看這個世界,財富分配得如此不合理,千百萬人在欠發達的國家過著窘迫的生活.隻有很少人富有，多數人一無所有.如今貪婪盛行，權勢集中.你難道一點都沒有懷疑過資本主義？難道貪婪才是社會的動力？
Friedman: 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; its 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 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 a free enterprise system.
Friedman: 首先，請你能告訴我哪個社會沒有“貪婪”？你認為蘇俄社會沒有貪婪？中國社會沒有貪婪？什麽叫貪婪？當然，我們都不貪婪，隻有別人貪婪。世界發展是因為，人追求各自的利益，文明社會的偉大成就不是來自政府機構.愛因斯坦研究出他的理論,不是官員指導的結果。亨利福特開創汽車工業的革命,也不是拜官員所賜.有史以來，凡是民眾擺脫了你所謂的“赤貧”的地方。都是在資本主義製度之下,大部分實行自由貿易的地方。如果你想要知道，哪裏的民眾水深火熱.絕對是那些喪失了這種資本主義製度的地方。曆史絕對清楚地表明,至今為止，還沒有發現任何一條別的道路.可以做到讓如此多平民百姓生活得到改善。隻有這個自由市場製度，才能釋放這種生產力.
Donahue: But it seems to reward not virtue as much as ability to manipulate the system.
Donahue:但是，好像這不能起到“善有善報”的作用，而是看誰有本事操縱這個製度
Friedman: And what does reward virtue? You think the communist commissar rewards virtue? You think a Hitler rewards virtue? You think – excuse me, if you will pardon me – do you think American presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the basis of the virtue of the people appointed or on the basis of their political clout? Is it really true that political self interest is nobler somehow than economic self interest? You know I think you are taking a lot of things for granted. Just tell me where in the world you find these angels who are going to organize society for us? Well, I don’t even trust you to do that
Friedman:什麽叫“善有善報”？你認為共產黨的政委追求“善有善報”。你認為希特勒崇尚“善有善報”你認為，不好意思，你認為美國總統是要“善有善報”？你認為他們在任命官員時，是基於他們的良好品德，而不是他們在政治上的關係？難道政治上的自利就比在經濟上的自利崇高？我認為你很多事情都在想當然，你告訴我，你從哪兒可以找來天使為我們的社會做安排呢？我甚至認為，你根本做不到？
