In this lesson I learned about chapter 10 of The Freedom Philosophy titled, “Looking Out for Yourself.” This was originally a commencement address given in 1956 by Leonard E. Read. Before we get started, Dr. North wanted me to know that these speeches are meant to be uplifting, forward looking, and they must please both students and parents.
Read starts out by saying that they have just spent the last couple of years on formal pursuits, but that from tomorrow on they would have to educate themselves. With that said, most people, unless alerted, remain unaware of two opposed ways of life, collectivism and self-government.
The first way of life, collectivistic, goes by many tags, socialism, communism, Fabianism, Nazism, the Welfare State, the planned economy, or state interventionism. While it’s intentions are far clearer with those tags, Read notes that it is much harder to discern when promoted untagged by most politicians, business leaders, and even your best friends. What is collectivism? It is the idea that the collective, over the individual, is what matters. Of course, the “collective good” is not some known thing, it must be interpreted by a certain group, by “representatives” which brings us back to the second issue of government, authority. Immediately this issue is connected to the fourth issue of government, sanctions, in that whatever these representatives view is good for the collective is enforced with the power of the government. It was at this moment that Read broke the third unspoken rule of commencement speeches, by naming a list of collectivist activities that people in the audience would have supported. Since it’s too good I’m putting it here.
Russia is the world’s most pronounced example, but here at home we see the same thing rearing its head in the form of rent control, Valley Authorities, public housing, parity prices, acreage allotments, union monopoly, federal subsidies of every description, federal subventions to states and cities and districts, governmental foreign-aid programs, import quotas, tariffs, manipulation of money, such as the monetization of debt, and so forth. ~Leonard E. Read
Having targeted a number of people in the audience he proceeded to never mention it again, instead focusing on lighting a candle rather than cursing the dark.
The second way of life, Read called “Looking Out for Yourself” because he remarked that, “That’s about as opposite as you can get from having the government looking out for you.” The government can only use force. With collectivism, it is permitted to use that force to take from people what they rightfully earned. Read’s view, much like Bastiat’s was that government’s force should be limited to protecting the rights of individuals. Force cannot constructively help someone, it can only clear out obstacles. Creativity comes from individuals, and no group of people can force someone to invent, discover, or create. If you limit the state’s force, creativity is allowed to flow.
While Read did acknowledge that the one who looks at all the clichés and catch-phrases will think of this system as one of non-cooperation, greed, and no concern for the well-being of others, he begins to combat this with a principle. That you cannot give to others what you do not have. Therefore you must advance yourself monetarily, intellectually, and spiritually to help others. He also points out that it is in our self-interest to have an interest in other’s well-being. We are living in one of the most specialized societies with one of the greatest divisions of labor. This allows out to go through so many goods and services a day that it would take us thousands of years if we were to make and perform all of them ourselves. Therefore it is also in our self-interest that we look out for other’s freedom and liberties to do what they do best with the least amount of resistance. Because the worse they do, the worse the product or service you can get from them.
It must also be noted that wealth is not an end in and of itself, and it should not be sought after for itself. Wealth is a useful tool, because it lifts man above from having to eke out an existence in the fields, to thriving and being able to turn his time towards developing his intellect and spirit.
Finally Read ended by saying that deviltry going on in today’s world is not caused by criminals. Rather he says this:
They originate mostly with the well-intentioned, those who wish to do good to others but who, lacking personal means, thoughtlessly see no harm in employing police establishments to impose their brand of good on the rest of us, to use the fruits of other persons’ labor to satisfy their own charitable instincts. ~Leonard E. Read
Connor's corner 