Rugged Individualism: Dead or Alive? by David Davenport & Gordon Lloyd

Author:David Davenport & Gordon Lloyd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: rugged individualism Individualism Communitarianism Hoover Liberty Founders
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
Published: 2016-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

Philosophical Debates about American Individualism

As individualism versus collectivism played out on the political and policy scene, there were also relevant debates about it in the realm of philosophy and ideas. Two of these debates especially informed the larger public policy approach to the subject. One might best be understood as coming from the world of political economy, with two of the leading contenders being libertarian-conservative Milton Friedman, representing the importance of individual liberty, and political scientist Michael Harrington, standing for many of the socialist or collectivist ideals of the student radical movement of the 1960s. A second round of conversations about individualism in America was triggered by sociologist Robert Bellah and political scientist Robert Putnam in their respective books, Habits of the Heart and Bowling Alone.

In Milton Friedman’s introduction to the fiftieth anniversary edition of Friedrich Hayek’s Road to Serfdom,23 Friedman praised Hayek for capturing the timeless choice facing society: collectivism and central direction (serfdom) versus individualism and voluntary cooperation (freedom). Hayek had understood that there was a road to freedom that had been abandoned, pointing to the German intellectuals of the 1870s who felt central planning was needed and left the road to freedom in favor of socialism and ultimately totalitarianism. Hayek sought to reintroduce the alternative of individualism, arguing that central planning led to bad policy and also resulted in coercion.

Friedman argued that political freedom, which was embraced widely in America, depended on maintaining economic and social freedom as well.24 He argued, like Hayek, that there were really only two choices: (1) a relatively free market; or (2) government control of the economy. The mixed solution, which became known later as the Nordic or Scandinavian model, was unworkable. First Friedman, then Goldwater, and later Reagan revived the notion of rugged individualism, establishing a free and responsible society as a preferable alternative to collectivism. Whereas Hayek had been fighting European socialism, Friedman was battling the regulatory state of the American Progressives. Both provided an important foundation for individualism.

In addition, Friedman offered two ways of measuring how the size and reach of government correspondingly reduced the level of freedom enjoyed by the individual. One measure is government spending as a percentage of national income. His goal was 10 percent for all government spending (not just federal), which he noted was actually in practice in 1928, prior to the Great Depression. What concerned Friedman was that the percentage rose to 20 percent during the New Deal era and up to 36 percent by the time Ronald Reagan came to office. Following the Reagan Revolution, the percentage hovered near the 34 percent range for the next twenty years. By 2008, however, it rose to 40 percent.25 By Friedman’s accounting, then, the Reagan Revolution at least put a brake on government growth.

Friedman’s second test is the amount and kind of government regulation over people’s daily lives. He listed fourteen government regulations that he claimed were inconsistent with a free society in 1962: parity price support, tariffs, output control, rent control, minimum wage laws,

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