The Machinery of Freedom - Guide to a Radical Capitalism

By: David D. Friedman

Narrated by: David Friedman

This audiobook argues for a society organized by voluntary cooperation under institutions of private property and exchange, with little, ultimately no, government. It describes how the most fundamental functions of government might be replaced by private institutions, with services such as protecting individual rights and settling disputes provided by private firms in a competitive market. It goes on to use the tools of economic analysis to attempt to show how such institutions could be expected to work, what sort of legal rules they would generate, and under what circumstances they would or would not be stable. The approach is consequentialist.

The claim is that such a society would produce more attractive outcomes, judged by widely shared values, than alternatives, including the current institutions of the US and similar societies. The second edition contained four sections; this third edition adds two more. One explores in greater depth some of the ideas already raised, including discussions of decentralized law enforcement in past legal systems, of rights seen not as a moral or legal category but as a description of human behavior, of a possible threat to the stability of the system not considered in the previous editions, and of ways in which a stateless society might defend itself from aggressive states. The final section introduces a number of new topics, including unschooling, the misuse of externality arguments in contexts such as population or global warming, and the implications of public key encryption and related online technologies.

Please note: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©1973, 1978, 1989, 2014 David Director Friedman (P)2019 David Director Friedman

Just when you think no one could be smarter than Milton himself

This was my first David Friedman read. David did was no one else could. He gave detailed, thorough, real world examples of how an Anarcho capitalist society would function. A true hero.

"...others find them peculiar"

as the author writes "my political views seem natural and obvious to me. others find them peculiar"

i feel that brother

Excellent narration, thought provoking book

This is a fantastic book that really makes you think about some of the ideas popular within liberty circles. The author narrates it himself, which is great if you're used to his speaking.

In my top 3 favorite books

This book taught me to find spontaneous order in more places than I ever thought possible.

Good, but not Rothbard

The arguments are well made, and I enjoyed the listen. I found the sections on bargaining new and insightful. I still find the writings of Murray Rothbard more insightful, but this book is a valuable addition to the conversation.

A good guide to Anarcho-capitalism

I enjoyed this book by David Friedman and thought it was good that he narrated it. His narration was fine but the audio quality wasn't great.

Good book

Great primer on anarcho-capitalism and does well diving into a myriad of other topics that ought to be talked about more in this day and age. The narration, however, was a disappointing due to the relatively poor sound quality!

Wonderful and thought provoking

If you are interested in freedom and how it could work without a government this is the book for you!

Essential book

Essential book for those interested in libertarian theory and in (applied) economics in general. It is written in a way that very complex issues are easily understood and also properly treated. The audio version narrated by David Friedman is perfect for listening to it while walking or doing housework.

It was interesting, but I did not find it convincing

The society he describes does not sound any better than the society we live in, in fact, it sounds much worse. What this book does do, is a pretty good job of outlining some problems with misaligned incentives in American government.