Friedman’s egalitarian personal style shielded him from being cast as a class enemy.

Evidence

Despite advocating for ideas that had long been associated with those in positions of privilege, Friedman was able to present himself as a genuine and emphatic populist. His appearance helped him assume the role; standing about fi ve feet tall, he projected the unaffected aura, as the patrician New York Times observed, of a “pushy Jewish kid from New Jersey.” His abhorrence of all modes of exclusivity extended even into the realm of private conversation, in which he frequently cited the personal mantra: “What I say to one person, I say to everyone.” This claim, which is validated in the papers maintained in Friedman’s archives, made him a uniquely controversial public fi gure and a singularly unsurprising private correspondent. He attempted to treat all people equally regardless of their rank or position, and his personal fi les are fi lled with multi-page responses to the peculiar questions of obscure individuals. He also expressed a willingness to consult with any po liti cal fi gure who actively sought his input. “I am willing to advise anyone who asks me,” he told the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle in 1976. “I have no partisan scruples about giving advice.” This maxim provided Friedman with a compelling, if to many unsatisfying, justifi cation of his relations with the Chilean government during his visit in 1975. More important, it provided an appearance of legitimacy to his assertions that his economic philosophy was constructed with the wellbeing of average individuals— and even the destitute— as a paramount goal. Despite their considerable efforts, it was diffi cult for members of the American Left to brand Friedman as a deliberate enemy of the working class. One could argue that Friedman was wrong, but his public persona made it very hard to represent him as maliciously so. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 484

Categorization

• XREF: Doctrine of ‘I say to one person, I say to everyone’ resonates with the transparency norms studied elsewhere; connects to the rhetorical strategy question of how libertarian ideas gained popular legitimacy despite their elite provenance. — connects to: Friedman deliberately courted unpopular positions because he found them low-cost and rewarding — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 391

Broader Connections

• Friedman deliberately courted unpopular positions because he found them low-cost and rewarding #complicates (0.75) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 391