The true villains are always the same. The billionaires who funded the think tanks, the economics departments, the law schools and the endowed chairs. The ones who bought the newspapers and networks that amplified the work generated by their think tanks. The ones who turned a set of academic arguments into a political program and a political program into received wisdom. The ones who bought the entire political system.
Only now, many of the billionaires (and for a brief moment, the world’s first trillionaire) who enjoy the fruits of the seeds planted by the white Christian nationalist libertarians in the 1970s have personal wealth equivalent to the GDP of developed nations. They control the vast majority of levers in the American political system. They own our data and command our attention. They rarely pay taxes and have dismantled the regulatory apparatus that used to restrain them. They have campaigned to destroy social welfare programs and are building artificial intelligence systems designed to eliminate jobs. They have unfettered access to the U.S. Treasury and are re-ordering the global monetary system.
Worse yet, they admit to all of it—are even boastful of it—because they believe in it. That is Milton Friedman’s legacy.
Milton Friedman was a high priest who genuinely believed in his god. His gift—our curse—was in convincing those around them that his god was real.