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The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

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STANLEY Y ANKUSCAU,SEANDEFFECTIN ANY specific community duringany specific period of time, theweather, the water supply, theschools, the customs, the language,the government, and various otherenvironmental factors are nearlyidentical for all persons. In suchsimilar influences and surroundingsit would be reasonable to expectthe lives of the people to beas similar as sardines. But theyare not. It is easy to observe thatthe lives of some men and womenare marred by hatred, scorn, envy,fights, and even murder whileothers live quiet, respectful, honorable,peaceful lives in the samevicinity.This startlin,g contrast makesit evident that some individualsare able to achieve a high degreeof self-improvement while othershave little success.Mr. Yankus moved to Australia from Michiganin protest against government intervention inagriculture, but knows that it is not a sufficientpurpose for his life.<strong>The</strong> men and women who usuallyfail in their self-improvement seeno rhyme or reason in the eventsthat take place in their lives. Asthey see it, life is a series ofgambles. If something goes wrong,it was an accident; if somethingturns out all right, it was pureluck.Those who are successful intheir self-improvement havelearned that opportunities are aproduct of cause and effectchanceplays no part. Favorableopportunities are produced by theuse of good methods and hardwork.Cause and effect run throughthe entire gamut of human experiences,from one's smallestpleasure to his biggest problem.In order to find the happiness weseek in life, it is beneficial to understandthe role of cause and effect.It is my purpose to examinethe relationship between cause andeffect, self-improvement and free-545

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