The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

.652LEONARD E. READr~~'-'~'-"-'lIll---------.-......~.~.~.~..~.~~'--------lIFrom whence come wars and fighting among you?come they not hence, even of your lusts that war inyour number? James 4:1As WITH ALL of my "original"ideas, this one turns out to be"old hat." Upon reading the firstdraft, an associate remarked,"Why, that is precisely what theBible says." That accounts for theopening quotation. There thencame to mind an .essay by E. W.Dykes entitled "Big Wars fromLittle Errors Grow." (The Freeman,January, 1964.) Old hat ornot, the theme needs constantrepetition; it is so easily forgotten.As I view the societal scenefrom my modest place in it, fourcurrent phenomena are outstandinglyimpressive:1. Things on the surface, atleast, appear to be amiss, notonly in the U.S.A. but worldwide:wars with guns, warswith words in religion, education,business, politics,brutishness on the campusesas on the streets. Never in mylifetime have the confrontationsbeen more pronounced.2. An amazing awakening to thefact that things are amiss:countless admissions by personson all sides of the politico-economicargumentscholarlyintellectuals, columnists,politicians, and others- many of whom have had ahand in bringing on the verycalamity they now decry.3. A frenzied search for explanations,causes, reasons - of themost diverse nature. Theserange from an incompetentbureaucracy to tax loopholesto inequality of income to excessiveor inadequate.welfarismto economic growth tolagging GNP - you name it!Never have the assigned rea-