The Promise of Commercial Society

Today we talk about commercial society,  But what we are really talking about is the free society. It turns out that our ability to engage in commerce is closely tied to our ability to speak and act freely. The connection between economic freedom and political freedom is not a new one. David Hume wrote about it in the 18th century and Milton Friedman wrote about it in the 20th. Commercial society has always had its detractors, but today it suffers increasingly from friendly fire on the right.