A View From A Few Decades Ago

Phil Donahue is one of my favorite leftie talk show hosts.

Oh, he's as rabid as they come.  My favorite clip is of him with Milton Friedman--classic Phil, and classic Milton!  What I like about Phil, and what contrasts him with so many of today's talk show hosts, is that he'll ask a question and then let his guest answer it.  In general, he doesn't talk over the guest and just get his point across, he genuinely let his guest get his/her point across as well.

The clip below of Ayn Rand is educational for many reasons.  For starters, listen to the companies that the audience were afraid of because of their monopoly power--ITT, Xerox, and General Motors!  (Note:  two decades ago people worried about Microsoft.  Today people worry about Google and Facebook, and perhaps Disney.)  Also, (the libertarian) Ms. Rand refuses to answer a question she considers asked in a rude manner, and (the leftie) Mr. Donahue tells her not to be so sensitive!



Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with hardcore libertarianism--it disregards human nature as much as liberalism does.  At 10:00 in the video Rand talks about a businessman who (without government help) establishes as monopoly but someone else will eventually come along and offer better service, a more competitive price, etc, and the monopoly won't stand; when that eventually happens, and it will eventually happen, it disregards the hardships imposed on the public by the monopolist prior to his/her competition's arrival on the scene.  Understanding human nature, I want a government that restricts the worst impulses of that nature.  That's why I'm such a fan of the US Constitution.

So my purpose in showing this Donahue/Rand video is not wave the banner of libertarianism, but to show how times have changed.