Free or Equal Questions

While watching Free or Equal, complete the following statements for questions 1-9.
Use the precise language from the video. Question 10 asks you to analyze a proposal
and provide your unique perspective.
You do not need to use the same format as shown below (with boxes). Use a format
which works best for you.

1. Professor Friedman would say that economic freedom is not just to _______________ when
times are good; its also to _____________________________ when times are bad.
Answer
#1
Answer
#2

reap the rewards

bear the consequences of your actions

2. Although Hong Kong had no prospects, no natural resources & little land that could be
cultivated, it became an economic powerhouse. How?

Hong
Kong

It never introduced policies (no tariffs, no regulations or

government intervention) so the economy could evolve in a natural
way.

3. ________________ have spread around the world. At the same time, weve seen the fastest
human progress ever, and it has been led by the countries that _________________. In fact,
average incomes around the world have almost doubled. Globally, extreme poverty has
been more than halved since Milton Friedman did his series in 1980. Amazingly, 730
million people have been ___________________.
Answer
#1
Answer
#2
Answer
#3

Free markets
Opened up their economies
Liberated from poverty

4. Human and political freedom has never existed (and cannot exist) without a large measure
of
__________________. Those of us who have been so fortunate as to have been born in a
free society tend to ____________________ to regard it as the ___________________. It is
not. It is a rare and precious thing.
Answer
#1

Economic freedom

Answer
#2
Answer
#3

Take freedom for granted

Natural state of mankind

5. Explain the concept of creative destruction as described in the Free or Equal video.

Creative
Destructi
on

If we want to increase our wealth and opportunities we have to stop

doing old things in old ways and start doing innovative things in
better ways, we have to be creative.

6. Explain why are Swedish entrepreneurs the oldest in the world, as described in the Free
or Equal video?

Swedish
Entreprene
urs

They dont have policies that encourage people to start the new
businesses

7. Our economic system gave us Henry Ford, Thomas Alva Edison, Bill Gates & other very
successful entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs all went in with their eyes open, knew
what they were doing & win or lose, we (society) all benefited from their
___________________________.
If we did not allow these successful entrepreneurs to become incredibly rich, we would
be more equal. But, would we be better off? If entrepreneurs did not think that a
possible reward for all the _______________, all their _____________, all the ___________ is a
lot of wealth, then they might do something else instead. In that case, we would not
have the goods, services and technologies (they created) that make our lives better.
Answer
#1
Answer
#2
Answer
#3
Answer
#4

Willingness to take a chance

Sacrifices they make
Hard work
Risk they take

8. They (the Founding Fathers) were a wise and learned group of people. They had learned
the lesson of history. The great danger to freedom is the ________________________,
especially in the hands of a government. They were determined to protect the citizens of

the new United States of America from that danger.

________________ with that in mind.
Answer
#1
Answer
#2

And they crafted their

Concentration of power
constitution

9. As Milton Friedman said, The society that puts equality before freedom will
_________________________. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a
__________________________________.
Answer
#1
Answer
#2

End up with neither

Great measure of both

10.Professor Friedman compares the concept of equality of opportunity to a race where

everyone begins at the starting line at the same time. In contrast, equality of outcome
guarantees that everyone finishes at the same time. Today, equality of outcome is
referred to as fair shares for all.
If we applied the fair shares for all concept in this class, all students would receive an
average grade of C. This would be accomplished by taking points away from
students earning As and Bs to give to students earning Ds and Es. Distributing
points equally would result in fair grades for all.
1. Would you approve of this method in calculating your final grade? Why or why not?
2. How would this differ from fair shares for all economically?
For example, whats the difference between a successful student being required to
give up some of his/her hard-earned grade and a successful person being
expected to give more of his/her hard-earned income?
If you support
redistribution of income and wealth, shouldnt you also be willing to redistribute
academic grades? After all, many of your fellow students may not have had the
advantages in education and upbringing that youve had.
3. Address the above questions in your own words, in a minimum of 3 paragraphs.

I would not like that system, because the amount of time and the effort that I put in
would not constitute a grade of a C. I also feel like the people that didnt do the work
to the C level would not earn what they get with that grade. Because they didnt do
the work they didnt learn anything and will not be taking anything from this class. So in
turn they are losing out on the educational benefits by just receiving a C.
I think that its only different in regards to the final reward, the money verses the grade.
There are people who work really hard to achieve what they have, by the circumstances
that they are given. There are people knowing that they dont have to do anything will
do the bare minimum because they know that they will still earn something. The thing
that they will be missing is the sense of accomplishment and pride of knowing that you
accomplished something.
I would like to see a little more sharing of information. I think people who are well off
dont want to share because they are afraid that someone else may do it better and
take it farther. I think that we could help out people who dont have the most ideal
situations with knowledge to choose if they could do a certain thing or not. This way
they are not just handed a silver spoon, but they are trying on their own to accomplish
something.

Reflective Writing
Compose 2-3 paragraphs explaining how completing this assignment helped you
achieve at least two (2) of the SLCC Learning Outcomes:

Learning
Outcome #1
(Paragraph #1)

Learning
Outcome #2
(Paragraph #2)

I have learned how to communicate more effectively for sure.

With all the classes that Ive had to do writings has given me
the chance to work on structure and ways to express my point
in a more clearly and defined way.
I have done a lot of public speaking in my classes which has
helped me to voice these writings to an audience better.
Ive learned to work better with people and not be so critical of
them. The school helped me see that there are two sides to
everything, which has helped me in my career see that there
could be a better way of doing things.