We’ve all heard the phrase, “Bad money drives good money out of circulation.” This is now called Gresham’s Law but it dates back to the ancient Greeks. What does this mean in practice and how might it be relevant to the internet and more generally to civility in our public discourse? First I’ll consider legal currency and then generalize to websites.

In the United States we have legal tender laws that require different forms of commodity money be accepted at face value for economic transactions. America debased its silver money in 1965. The Mint switched to cheaper metals as the value of silver in the coin exceeded its face value.

The commodity value of “bad money” is less than its face value. When circulating along with money with a higher commodity value, with both forms accepted at equal value as legal tender, debased money will displace the “good” money, that made of 80% real silver.

As a natural result, individuals hold onto the “old” American silver coins while the new ones are used in daily transactions. Last week I received a pre-1964 dime in change, the first real silver dime I’d seen in many years. And, of course, I kept it. That’s the way the world works. And it always will. Everywhere.

This is all quite obvious and predictable when considering coins. While hardly a perfect parallel, the same applies to social situations. Consider a restaurant traditionally frequented on Sundays by families who go there after church. As a mental experiment, assume that for some reason boisterous, uncouth, loud, and profane gang-bangers begin descending upon this restaurant prior to their pit-bull fights. You know the outcome. The churchgoers find another venue.

I suggest this also happens with websites. Gordon Crovitz recently wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal, “Is Internet Civility an Oxymoron?” He observed that “comment sections [are] so uncivilized and uninformative” and have become “wastelands of attacks and insults.” And, of course, he’s right. Here’s my example.

I knew the economist Milton Friedman for nearly 40 years. In addition to his scholarly, Nobel Prize winning prowess, he was one of the most principled and honest individuals I’ve known.

On the occasion of Milton’s 90th birthday I wrote a humorous column proposing that he be canonized upon completion of his third miracle. (He would be the first male Jewish saint.) Miraculously, two of his proposals have been enacted, the end of the military draft and the wide acceptance of school choice. The third, I suggested, would be the decriminalization of drugs.

Always a gentleman, Milton wrote thanking me. “I write simply to express my appreciation for your kind words, but do spare me sainthood.” I have my column with his response mounted on the wall of my study. Although we occasionally disagreed, I greatly admired him and respect his memory.

I recently wrote a column on NPR that was posted on the New West website. Uncle Milty wasn’t mentioned nor was there any reference to his ideas. Alas, someone responded with this: “Baden...merely bases his ideas of political economy on his hyper-libertarian ideology/theology—much like his idol: the mean-spirited, bloodthirsty, ‘malevolent dwarf,’ Milton Friedman.”

The individual who posted this comment demonstrates far more vitriol than understanding. I don’t care to participate in a forum with such mean spirited, ignorant, and vacuous venom. Hence, should it be posted, this is my last entry on the New West site.