Created Equal Friedman Summary

In the article, “Created Equal” by Milton and Rose Friedman, the authors argue that equality of outcome puts the people’s liberty in jeopardy. In this article the Friedmans discuss equality of outcome and how it forces people who have certain benefits in their society but are forced to end up in the same place as everyone else, regardless of hard work or ability. To the Friedmans this is a clear contradiction of liberty and should not be allowed to become a reality. The Friedmans use equality and liberty as the two values that each and every individual should try to have in a society. Equality to the Friedmans means the opportunity to pursue one's objectives according to his own capacity. While liberty means the freedom to shape owns life.

Every individual should be able to reach their career goals on account of their qualifications. With more emphasis to the free and competitive society, the authors shows the drawback of governments that promote equality over liberty. As stated by the Friedmans, the idea of an outcome being the same for all, the possibility that everyone should be equivalent, without regard to one's individual ability, is a hazardous view. The authors believe that there are many problems with this idea. The Friedmans use Great Britain as an example of what would happen if this was ever allowed in the United States. This example, places emphasis on everyone ending at the same place rather than everyone being able to end up where their abilities allow them to. The Friedmans argue that this idea is unfair to individuals who have more advantages over others as a result of their privilege. The ability to disregard individuals who are considered to have a more favorable position depends on the person's advantage. If someone were to attempt and equal the results, then the less advantaged individuals would be given the best measure of support and the more advantaged individuals would be given minimal measure of support. In the Friedman's opinion, people are all given the same opportunity to achieve greatness but life is not

The egalitarians who believe in this ideology are not to be trusted. They would have the Government enforce policies, just like Great Britain, only to have a rise in crime. According to the Friedmans, when the law tries to infringe on the rights of the people, they will find a way around it. Which in turn will result in the Government enforcing stricter laws. Once these people start breaking one law, it will be much easier to break more. This concept raises a very serious problem for freedom. It is in clear conflict with it, since it requires that the freedom of some be restricted in order to provide greater benefits to