Friedman analyzes where the world is in the pull between collectivism and individualism. Focusing on the world of ideas, he begins by noting the world of affairs. With a nod to Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom," he says the world is less far down the road than how he and Hayek expected the world to be in 1971 back when the book was first published.

In the world of ideas, he begins by noting a recent renewed upsurge against the market and toward collectivism. Believing the experiences since the book has confirmed Hayek's predictions and opinions, he cites East/West Germany and Berlin as proof.

Friedman spends most of his time speculating as to why intellectuals tend toward collectivism. Though he admits he has not researched for concrete proof, he analyzes theories as to how intellectuals' self-interest leads them to this disposition. He believes it is counter-intuitive as there is an incredible stake that intellectuals have in the free market of ideas for themselves. However, he believes the main reason is that there is a larger demand/market for collectivist ideas than individualist ideas, citing the boom in intellectual job as part of the New Deal. Friedman calls the argument for collectivism is a simple, but compelling devil argument: bad people are doing bad things, so give me the power to stop them. Saying intellectuals believe they are smarter than others, they think they will be the ones given power over the bad guys. He laments than there is no natural law forcing promises to be upheld. The market for individualist ideas, however, is much smaller to Friedman, saying it is a more complex idea, where one cannot easily see an invisible hand working. The Mont Perelin Society does not go collectivist because of this smaller market.

As an aside, Friedman also wonders why the mass media is overwhelmingly collectivist, despite individualist slogans, and why they want to use the government as a tool to fulfill these individualist slogans.