Thanks to my employer’s book club, I finally got around to reading Milton and Rose Friedman’s Free to Choose, and in their chapter about equality, they make an important point that libertarians sometimes make but not nearly enough: the market actually makes us more equal in what we are able to consume. Consider:
Industrial progress, mechanical improvement, all of the great wonders of the modern ear have meant relatively little to the wealthy. The rich in Ancient Greece would have benefited hardly at all from modern plumbing: running servants replaced running water. Television and radio–the patricians of Rome could enjoy the leading musicians and actors in their home, could have the leading artists as domestic retainers. Ready-to-wear clothing, supermarkets–all these and many other modern developments would have added little to their life. They would have welcomed the improvements in transportation and in medicine, but for the rest, the great achievements of Western capitalism have redounded primarily to the benefit of the ordinary person. These achievements have made available to the masses conveniences and amenities that were previously the exclusive prerogative of the rich and powerful.
Sure there are still vast differences in what we people can afford to consume, but many of these differences are largely superficial. For instance, flying first class is no doubt more comfortable than flying coach and bestows a certain status on the passenger, but both the first class and coach passengers arrive at their destination at the same time. Furthermore, the internet, which is almost undoubtedly the greatest advance since the Friedmans wrote their book in 1979, is affordable to almost every household in America. And while connection speeds may vary, ultimately no matter how rich or poor a person is, he is still consuming the same good as every other internet user. Though a person may have tremendous wealth, it is likely harder now than ever before to buy something that is completely unlike what a normal person can afford.
