The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

78 THE FREEMAN February3-R's of the seminar: Read, Russell,and Roche. (For clarificationand lest I appear lacking in respect,may I amend this remarkto: Mr. Leonard Read, Dr. DeanRussell, and Dr. George C. RocheIII.) I listened to them, but I wasnot fully convinced. I re-read TheLaw more carefully, however, whenI returned home."Look at the madhouse of aworld," Frederic Bastiat had suggestedin an early work. The world"goes to enormous efforts to tunnelunderneath a mountain to connecttwo countries and then it setsduties and custom guards at eachentrance to make passage as difficultas possible." Interesting.The latest, fourteenth edition ofEncyclopaedia Britannica allowsFrederic Claude Bastiat two dozentepid lines. However, going backto the eleventh edition, publishedin 1910, I found this magnificenttribute:He alone fought socialism hand tohand, body to body, as it were, notcaricaturing it, not denouncing it, notcriticizing under its name some merelyabstract theory, but taking it asactually presented by its most popularrepresentatives, considering patientlytheir proposals and arguments,and proving conclusively thatthey proceeded on false principles,reasoned badly and sought to realizegenerous aims by foolish and harmfulmeans.I was beginning to discover thatBastiat was, indeed, quite a man.A Very Good YearlThe year 1776 was a vintageone for freedom. It brought forththe master work of Thomas Jeffersonand Adam Smith. In the vernacularof today's bright youth,"Groovy! Everybody has rightsand everybody should do his ownthing." The concept of libertywhich came out of the enlightenedeighteenth century and achievedwide popularity in the nineteenthhas lost ground in the twentieth.The political term, "liberal," hasshifted in meaning from thosewho would break government'shold on its citizens to those whoadvocate greater government controlsbe placed on individuals. Thegreat utopian appeal of collectivism,even in the modern extremesof fascism and communism, is thefond hope of equality. Collectivismproclaims high ideals and promisesreforms. Literacy and publicenlightenment are laudable goalsfor us to undertake in public education.Can this be "legal plunder"?One might as well imagineSanta Claus an "enemy agent."There is profound danger incultivating the cult of equality.Tocqueville, the great admirer ofAmerican democracy, warned ofthe danger during his travels inthe United States in the Jackson