The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 LIES 573man quotes Alfred North Whiteheadon Prometheus, who "didnot bring to mankind freedom ofthe press. He procured fire, whichobediently to human purposescooks and gives warmth. In factfreedom of action is a primaryhuman need."Not Peculiarly AmericanThe final triad of "lies" - thatAmerica is "insane," "guilty" andin need of "violent revolution"­is too surrealistic to demand muchrefutation. It was one man, not amultitude, that pulled the triggeron John Kennedy, and it was theone man, not the city of Dallas,that was mad. And, looking atSoviet Russia, Red China, Cubaand North Vietnam, what doesviolent revolution get you? Comparedto the new tyrants, theKaiser and Czar were liberals, asMax Nomad once pointed out. The"honky" American worker maynot have traveled, but he knowswith Mr. Beichman that "racism,tribalism, communalism, religioushate" are less troublesome inMichigan towns than they are in"India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Sudan,Japan, Ceylon ... the Soviet Unionand China," all of which haverepressed minorities.What distinguishes America,says Mr. Beichman in summingup, is that "Americans happen tobe ashamed of their prejudices,while almost everybody else .isbusy explaining the rationale ofracial and religious discrimination,and why it is impossible toend them overnight." The veryfact that we are an apologeticpeople proves that we are notfascists, not genocides, not honkies,not insane. More than others,we are still seekers, looking for aperfection that nobody will everfind.~ HAZARDOUS TO YOURHEALTH by Marvin H. Edwards(New Rochelle, N. Y.: ArlingtonHouse, 1972, 318 pp., $9.95)Reviewer: Allan C. BrownfeldAMERICANS present a curious spectacleto the world: Citizens of thefreest and most prosperous nationon earth engage in ritual handwringingover the alleged "crises"they find everywhere in their society.Nothing is right, and of thethings that are wrong none hascome under sharper attack latelythan the private practice of medicine.The near unanimity within thebody politic about the existence of