Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist, hosted an award winning PBS television series in the 1980s called Free to Choose. In the series, Milton discusses the principles of personal, political and economic freedom.

Milton and his wife Rose published a book by the same name, which was the bestselling non-fiction book of 1980. Rose Friedman wrote in her memoir, Two Lucky People, why the idea of freedom motivated them to create the series:

Milton and I have spent much of our life trying to persuade our fellow men and women of the dangers of an intrusive government and the key role that a free competitive economy plays in making a free society possible. Bringing these ideas to the large audience that a television documentary could attract excited us.

You can watch many episodes online (reproduced in 1990), and after watching the first episode titled “The Power of the Market,” you see the importance of operating a life—a country—on principles (and you see Arnold Schwarzenegger, pre-governor, espouse the glories of a limited government).

During the closing 10 minutes of the episode, David Brooks, Wall Street Journal columnist, and James Galbraith, Professor at the University of Texas, discuss what role a government should play in the free market. What is the perfect mix for a prosperous nation?

In one exchange, James Galbraith claims the best form of government is one that steps in to help the “have not’s” who lose in the game of capitalism. It is the responsibility of a rich nation to help those who are no as lucky, or as skilled, as those who have. Sound familiar?

Milton’s response eerily exemplifies the thorn in the side of the Obama Administration: the role of U.S. government should be limited to protecting its citizens and providing a strict set of laws that allow dishonesty and dangerous acts to receive justice, which in turn, further protects those citizens. The only difference between a communist government and the 20th century American government, Milton says, is that “China’s government has gone 100% and we are only at 50%.”

Creeping compassion, the kind OWS and Professor Galbraith celebrate, will in the end create the opposite of compassion—which is no secret to those who take the time to know history. I encourage you to learn from Friedman. Watch the episodes.

Not only can you watch the television series, but you can check out Free to Choose Media, an organization with a mission to “translate serious scholarship into widely understood rhetoric and icons.” The challenge Free to Choose Media has undertaken is “to become much more effective story tellers, thus making economic and political concepts accessible to all citizens.” Some of their productions include “Free or Equal,” “The Lesson of 1623” and “Volunteer Military.”