Free drinks, Free Hors d'oeuvres, and Free Markets!

Minnesota celebrated the birthday of Milton Friedman and the value of freedom with the debutante ball of the Minnesota Free Market Institute.

Gathering at the ballroom of the Trocaderos restaurant in Minneapolis, friends and interested parties met to swap stories, honor the work of free people, pay tribute to the late economist, or just see what was going on with the state's newest policy organization.

The crowd of about 100 paused their conversation and enjoyment of the free drinks and free food long enough to hear some introductory remarks by David Strom, president of the institute. Strom, who previously served as head of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, noted that we are living in an age shaped by Milton Friedman.

The all-volunteer army, for example, was advocated by Friedman long before it was put into place. Think about that. Something as central to the responsibility of government as military defense is provided for not through coercion, but the voluntary action of free individuals. Too bad that more societal needs (and personal needs, for that matter) aren’t met through voluntary action rather than government coercion.

The crowd had some local media representatives on hand, some folks not normally associated with free-market advocacy, and as of course individuals favoring cooperative, voluntary solutions.

Mitch Berg of Shot in the Dark and King Bananian of SCSU Scholars represented the blogging world.

I spoke with Linda Runbeck, of the American Property Coalition. The group is concerned about the threat to property rights posed by environmental and other regulations.

Philip Krinkie, Strom's replacement at the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, gave me a business card with a riff on the ubiquitous credit card commercials: Who’s protecting your wallet? Indeed, when you live in a state with an appetite for public spending, be thankful someone is vigilant.

Susan Shogren Smith, meanwhile, publishes Women Who Think, a web site with the mission of advancing the idea that “Women need to think about long term implications of public policy choices and work towards solutions using reason and logic rather than emotion and rhetoric.”

Ever dream of uniting your profession with your passion? That’s what Brendan R. Tupa does in his solo law practice, Entrepreneurs & Free Markets PLC.

Less than a year ago, Tupa left behind a job at a small-to-medium sized law firm. “Defending individual liberties by prosecuting unscrupulous offenders is a passion for Brendan,” reads his web site. “Whether the culprit is an employer,a business competitor, a state agency, a city police department, or a building inspector,Brendan takes pleasure in seeking justice for his clients.”

Mitch Pearlstein and Peter J. Nelson of the Center of the American Experiment also stopped by. The center is a long-standing member of State Policy Network.

Minnesota is populated by a lot of people with a Scandinavian heritage. Unfortunately, it also has a fair amount (by American standards) of Scandinavian government, with a high level of taxation as well as rather active state and local governments. (Uff da!)

A tradition of civic involvement and high-value-added businesses lead to a level of prosperity that cause many people to confuse the correlation of high taxes/high services with a high quality of life.

With the launching of the Minnesota Free Market Institute, the state sometimes noted as “The Land of 10,000 Taxes” shows once again that there is still a vibrant community of people who value personal and family responsibility over government solutions.