Delivered at Stanford University.

Brochure summary:

John Stuart Mill said, in effect, that self-protection is the only legitimate reason for people to interfere with the freedom of others. If we are to define the role of government in a free society, we must first specify what we mean by self-protection. Defense from foreign enemies and protection of property, including the enforcement of private contracts, are clearly legitimate functions of government. But when we come to two other functions of government--providing a substitute for voluntary cooperation when it appears impossible to achieve, and providing for irresponsible individuals--the justification is much less clear-cut, because in a free society people should be able to take risks but should not be able to force others to pay the consequences. If the proper limitations of government action were observed, the government would not do many things it now does. We should not resort to government regulation until we have adequately explored the possibilities for coordinating our activities through volunatry means. If we understood the implications of our own values, we would not allow ourselves to be "front men" for values we oppose merely because we are confused about the meaning of freedom and the legitimate role of government in a free society.

"You and I as well-meaning people may say that government should step in to correct this or that market failure, but once we get the government into the act it's going to go according to its own rules, and those rules will mean that the ultimate results are very different than the initial intent. The will will be different than the deed. When the government steps in and make mistakes and has failures, they're going to be big failures and not little ones."