Mechanics of Freedom, Chapter 63

Another, very tiny, chapter of Mechanics of Freedom is being published, The Conservative Error. In it, Friedman lumps together immigration, global warming, fracking, GMOs, and various other same-sex marriages, asserting that the rejection of human development in these respective directions is rooted in one simple cognitive bias. Moreover, this bias is characteristic of both those who call themselves conservatives and those who call themselves liberals (referring to the US coordinate system, of course). The bias consists of the assumption that one can stop a beautiful moment. No, you cannot.

The translation of Mechanics of Freedom is nearing completion. Parallel to this, I have finished organizing by chapters and posted on my website the English text of Friedman’s 2019 book about legal systems that are very different from ours. Vladimir Zolotorev has so far released translations of three chapters, all of which are duplicated on my site, and I intend to continue in the same vein. If you want to encourage the translation, send donations to Vladimir. But if he gets stuck for long, I will take the initiative.

The Mechanics of Freedom. Chapter 62.

In a short chapter with the strange title Capitalist Trucks, Friedman answers the question of how a state differs from a condominium, and also advises potential truck buyers on whether to buy a Kamaz.

On the one hand, Friedman’s arguments could encourage supporters of contractual jurisdictions. On the other hand, he also points out their limitations: such communities will inevitably be compact and small in number because the negative effect of scale is very pronounced in democracies. So enthusiasts of charter cities have something to think about. For example, whether their cities need a single system of law, or whether the development of most norms should be left to condominiums and other local organizations.

Mechanics of Freedom, Chapter 61

I’ve received another donation for the Friedman translation project, as well as a question: will the translated Mechanics of Freedom be available in fb2 format? Actually, I planned to stick with epub, but since that’s the case, there will be an fb2 as well. And since money has come in, it’s a great excuse to post a new chapter.

Chapter 61 has a grand title: A Bet I Lost: Where My Moral Philosophy Begins. Friedman shares memories from half a century ago about how he bet with philosopher Isaiah Berlin and failed to prove to him that moral judgments are more a matter of taste than objective facts.

The venerable philosopher explained to the student David, as simply as two plus two, that as long as we rely on the testimony of our sense organs, the objectivity of any facts is extremely conditional. He then developed the idea that mutually consistent impressions are perhaps useful enough to be considered facts, since they align well with each other and with the impressions of other people. In the same way, mutually consistent moral judgments can boldly be considered moral facts, and those incapable of perceiving them can be considered insane.

As a result, Friedman largely changed his position on morality and is now much more inclined to perceive basic moral statements as akin to facts of physical reality. However, he is aware that he lacks a decent argument against moral nihilism, and it is unlikely that one will emerge.

Mechanics of Freedom, Chapter 60

I published Chapter 59, regarding the problem of deriving the ought from the is in Ayn Rand, about a year ago. In it, Friedman examined the arguments for objectivist ethics in John Galt’s speech, found many logical holes, and stated that they cannot be closed by mere rhetoric.

In Chapter 60, The Economics of Vice and Virtue, the author analyzes moral qualities and actions from the perspective of economic analysis and game theory, thereby proposing his own approach to objectivism—that is, deriving the ought from the is. I have previously stated many times in discussions and answers to readers’ questions that a market society is more affluent and benevolent, and therefore less inclined toward the dominating desire to succeed at the expense of others than a society with strong state intervention. Friedman provided a more rigorous foundation for this empirical observation, for which he deserves thanks.

The Publication of “Mechanisms of Freedom”

When I mentioned that the competition is not sleeping, and that an alternative translation of Friedman’s book is already undergoing pre-press preparation, I forgot to provide a link to the fundraiser for its printing. Those who would like to participate in the project, send a donation there.

At the time of this publication, 59,350 out of 80,000 rubles have been collected.


Also, as far as can be judged by David Friedman’s website, he wants to post Russian translations of his poems (most likely including mine), but the link does not work yet.

Mechanics of Freedom, Chapter 58

Chapter 58, Welfare and Immigration: The Second Part of the Argument, concludes the fifth part, The Mechanics of Freedom. While in Chapter 14, Friedman argued that labor immigration benefits both the migrants and the citizens, he now focuses on the fact that migrants may pursue the simple goal of living on welfare. He asserts that free migration is precisely what gives the government an incentive to reduce benefits, whereas high immigration barriers allow the level of redistribution to remain high. Thus, for proponents of a small state, it is entirely justified to either start by reducing benefits and then open the gates, or start by easing migration, and then the demand for reducing benefits will inevitably emerge.

It seems to me that Friedman relies too heavily on economics here, failing to consider the factor of populism in democratic countries.

And so, having finished the fifth part, I dove straight into the sixth, and first translated the poetic introduction, so the poems in this book are now seemingly dealt with.

Mechanics of Freedom, Chapter 57

I received a small donation for the translation of Friedman; I took the hint, so here is a fresh chapter.

I published Chapter 56 earlier, together with Chapter 34, since their themes are closely related. So those who wish to read in order can refresh their memory on the topic of national defense and then proceed to Chapter 57.

Original appropriation, a brief excursion into moral philosophy. The chapter is dedicated to answering the question of what grounds libertarians can even have for appropriating that which is not produced, specifically, land. Two approaches are explored: according to Brodie (if it cannot be done, but is very profitable, then it can, provided compensation is paid) and according to Locke (by mixing honey with tar, the owner of the honey claims rights to the entire barrel).

By mixing Locke’s argumentation with his own, the author concludes that the resulting product is barely edible, but in principle capable of serving as a libertarian basis for the appropriation of unproduced resources.

The competitors are not sleeping!

While I was fussing with the translation of Friedman, slowly and sadly posting one chapter at a time, Sergei Ankapov completed his own translation, and is now raising money for a print edition. Since my version of the translation is also close to completion, I will, of course, hurry up now, and soon you will have two options to choose from: a free amateur one and a paid official one, with a preface by the author (although, if the preface is worth it, I will also pull it over to my version in time).

That’s how competition works: because of me, it will be harder for Sergei to raise money, and I will simply be ashamed that I didn’t manage within a shorter timeframe, and thus partially undervalued my own work.

На изображении может находиться: текст «THIRD EDITION EDITION MACHINERY of FREEDOM Guide to a Radical Capitalism DAVID FRIEDMAN»

Mechanics of Freedom, Chapter 55.

The new chapter of The Machinery of Freedom, Default Rules, Economies of Scale, and the Stability Problem, is a more in-depth analysis of the possibility of a stateless society’s collapse compared to the first edition of the book. Forty years ago, the author’s mood was more overconfident, but later serious objections were raised against the proposed model, and he had to make a number of clarifications.

The key clarification was the idea that regardless of whether a state exists or not, the social contract is simply a peaceful agreement on which distribution of rights will not provoke people’s desire to violently change the status quo. This echoes, in some ways, my formulation that rights are claims that are tolerated. Then, Friedman adds the apparatus of Schelling points used in several previous chapters and shows that a stateless society is indeed susceptible to the danger of collapse during its formative stage, but if the rules become more or less settled, the resulting inertia will then provide the necessary stability.

How will feminism work under ancap?

анонимный вопрос

Let’s imagine anarcho-capitalism. A developed capitalist economy with a deep division of labor and the dominance of commodity-money relations, plus the absence of state power—meaning, no monopoly on rule-making or the enforcement of those very rules. Are gender prejudices regarding which lifestyle generally suits which sex possible in such a society? Of course, they are. This means there is ground for feminism; in other words, the question is at least not meaningless.

Theoretically, one can easily imagine a situation where the collapse of the institution of the state leads to the triumph of hardcore paleolibertarians building their own contractual jurisdictions, where women are denied agency entirely and are considered a type of family property. A woman wants to found her own contractual jurisdiction with different rules? A woman wasn’t given the floor.

However, any attempts to force a conceptual model to work that differs significantly from the real needs of active subjects will face more or less active opposition. First, individual deviants occasionally express doubt that the existing order is the best; then, such cases accumulate, giving birth to a sufficiently formed ideological movement, and then, as the classics of Marxism assure us, the idea takes hold of the masses and becomes a material force.

Of course, bare ideas are not enough; they preferably need economic backing. Slavery is not only immoral but also economically inefficient. Oh, in this specific case it is efficient? Perhaps, but it is still immoral. Similarly, a woman’s opinion should be considered not only because she is an equal human being, but also because it may prove useful. But even if she is a shrew, she is still a human being.

What methods are permissible for promoting feminism under ancap? The same as for any other social movement: PR campaigns, private discrimination, shaming, and similar methods of moral pressure.

To what degree of obsession can feminism go under ancap? Theoretically, to a degree as serious as it is now. But here, again, not only rhetoric but economics are important. Yes, men are potential rapists, but specifically Vasya is a valuable employee. You want him fired? Do his job for the same money. Yes, diversity on the board of directors increases a corporation’s income on average. But if diversity becomes an end in itself, it becomes a cargo cult, and income drops. In short, rhetoric is verified by common sense and is accepted without much discussion if it does not particularly contradict it.

In addition to everything said above, I suggest rereading the chapter Bargaining in the Absence of Government from Friedman’s The Machinery of Freedom. Equality turns out to be the Schelling point in the issue of gender rights, and discussions on this topic will inevitably revolve around equality. Therefore, imbalances in gender privileges in one direction or another will always generate serious opposition, while equality itself is quite easy to sell to the public.