Friedman’s frontier individualism drew on a historical narrative already discredited

Evidence

124. Friedman’s conception of an unencumbered and individualistic frontier lifestyle drew on a narrative of western history that was common among historians in the early twentieth century. An exemplary text is Frederic Paxson, History of the American Frontier, 1763– 1893 (Boston: Houghton Miffl in, 1924). Long before Friedman delivered his speech, this narrative had been subjected to devastating criticisms; see, for, example, Benjamin Wright, “American Democracy and the Frontier,” Yale Review 20 (1931): 349– 365. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 1074

Categorization

• XREF: Extends the book’s running theme of how the Mont Pèlerin milieu grounded their ideology in selective, dated historical constructions — parallel with Turner thesis literature. — connects to: Modern anti-historical individualism means private appropriation of socially produced wealth — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1287; Friedman framed monetarism as value-neutral science rather than ideology — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 336; Decontextualized polemic becomes misread as straightforward history
• SEED: Angle: how ideological movements source their founding myths from already-refuted academic narratives and why the rebuttals never catch up.

Broader Connections

• Modern anti-historical individualism means private appropriation of socially produced wealth #qualifies (0.75) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1287
• Friedman framed monetarism as value-neutral science rather than ideology #expands (0.75) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 336
• Decontextualized polemic becomes misread as straightforward history #complicates (0.72)