This must have been taped back in the 1970's from the looks of Phil Donahue (and his hair style). This is brilliant. And also of interest is Donahue's rapt attention at what Friedman is actually saying. I don't like Donahue but as someone pointed out, can you see the hosts of what passes for this kind of TV show now (The Daily Show, Bill Maher, The (blech) View)sitting quietly for this long, actually LISTENING to what their guest is saying? Nah, I didn't think so.
2 comments:
This was great. And your observation is so on target about today's interviewers. Donahue was not this patient and quiet when he interviewed women, as I recall. Also, I remember the audience questions: women would ask the guest questions; men would expound their own ideas instead of asking the expert something. I remember when Donahue was a local show out of Dayton (I think).
That is extraordinary.
I have to say that I would have taken issue with the word "greed". Greedy people put accumulating stuff ahead of everything: ahead of acting ethically, ahead of their own self-interests. It's like the way compulsive gamblers and people with other addictions act. It's nothing you can explain rationally. Like the head of Enron making videos to encourage his employees to continue to buy stock in the company, to keep the prices up while he got out of his.
This is different from capitalism. Capitalism probably requires some government oversight in the form of truth-in-advertising laws and FDA and OSHA regulations and so forth. But it runs on people wanting to make money and feather their nests, it depends to some degree on good faith among people who do business with each other, and it does not coexist peacefully with actual greed - see the ripples throughout the economy when a Ken Lay or a Madoff goes down. These people are an aberration. I wish Donahue had not been allowed to conflate greed with capitalism.
Still, it was a good convo, and it caused Donahue's worldview to come across as naive and formless as it was - or maybe that's just the way I see it.
Post a Comment