Friedman’s rise marked a shift from Hayekian sensibility to a public-facing rhetorical mode

Evidence

Jouvenel felt close allegiance to the early Mont Pèlerin Society’s mission of defending individual liberties, but could not abide the channeling of that mission through the vehicle of laissezfaire. It was ironic, then, that his letter was addressed to the man who, with the publication of Capitalism and Freedom two years later, would become the society’s leading exponent of the very philosophy that he professed to abhor. During the ensuing de cade Milton Friedman would develop a rhetorical mode and pop u lar profi le that supplanted, and exceeded, the Hayekian pre cedent. The ascent of Friedman would solidify the transformation of the society that Jouvenel had observed. But while Jouvenel’s letter portrayed that transformation through a narrative of decline that began at the base of Mont Pèlerin, the life of Milton Friedman resists the declensional mode. His arrival as a major fi gure in the public sphere does align with the diminution of a certain sensibility associated with the society’s initial meetings, but it resonates still more audibly as a point of origin for a pro cess of extraordinary social and po liti cal change. The nostalgia of founding members of the Mont Pèlerin Society like Jouvenel, Röpke, and Hunold provides, in its manifest regret for changes that increasingly appeared irreversible, an early intimation that the age of Milton Friedman had begun. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 385

Categorization

• CANDY: Enjoyable framing: Friedman ‘supplanted and exceeded’ the Hayekian precedent, so much so that founding members looked back with nostalgia.
• QUESTION: What specifically distinguished Friedman’s ‘rhetorical mode and popular profile’ from Hayek’s? Worth chasing in the following chapters.
• XREF: connects to: Friedman’s rhetorical gifts made him uniquely persuasive among economists — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 470; Friedman deliberately used unqualified rhetoric while Hayek stayed aloof from politics — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 559; Friedman’s rhetorical power fused critique of the present with utopian promise — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 492 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• The late 1960s marked Friedman’s rise as Hayek’s influence faded. #corroborates (0.85) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 388
• A crucial rhetorical shift produces a new political narrative #expands (0.82) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 134
• Marx’s own emphasis shifted with political phases of revolution and reaction #complicates (0.72) — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 580