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The Ethics of Liberty

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The Ethics of Liberty The Ethics of Liberty A belief in the goodness of govern- ment assumes that politicians will be rue champions of good. Test this fantasy by asking peo- the free market ple the following questions: assert that people 1. Do you believe the campaign should be allowed promises of politicians? to live their lives 2. Who is more likely to gain popular as they choose, so approval, a politician who deceives long as they allow or a politician who rigorously tells others to do the same. The skeptic the truth? asserts, "Impossible! The free society 3. Do politicians have higher or lower dependsT on everyone being good. This moral standards than you do? is fantasy!" But the real fantasy is I have asked my students these trusting in the goodness of politicians. questions in dozens of surveys. The Free market champions recognize result, every single time, is a nearly that all people have good and bad as unanimous opinion about politicians: part of their character. The danger is 1. they are untrustworthy, when people have great power to 2. honest people usually have little impose their will on others. Doing chance in politics, good things for people does not 3. politicians are typically corrupt and require the initiation of force. Doing have little or no moral restraint. bad things does. A truly free society Then I ask the same people if they isn't perfect, but limiting power sim- trust government and if government ply limits the damage that people can can improve the moral behavior of do to others on a grand scale through society. Most people then say, "Yes!" politics. and they proceed to list a set of laws they want government to implement. THE ETHICS OF LIBERTY 1 DIVINE RIGHT PEOPLE ARE OFTEN MESMERIZED OF KINGS WITH THE IDEA THAT GOVERNMENT IS A KIND OF GOD: OMNIPRESENT, THIS IS POLITICAL schizophrenia–a OMNISCIENT, AND OMNIPOTENT. common sense malady. People fre- TOSS A FEW HUNDRED OF THE quently experience this disconnection MOST SORDID POLITICIANS INTO between what they think about gov- SOME LEGISLATIVE CAULDRON ernment and what they think about AND ONE IS OFTEN PRESUMED TO HAVE THE MAGIC FORMULA the politicians who comprise govern- FOR A CIVIL GOD. ment. Perhaps this reflects the effec- tiveness of government influence through schools, media, and the many exhortations to patriotism. The voter is not so different from known as the Divine Right of Kings. the abused spouse who wishes to Kings asserted their right to rule by believe in an ideal despite endless victory in battle–which, it was betrayals and beatings. The abused claimed, must have been aided by voter keeps returning to the incum- Divine intervention. Thus kings bent at the ballot box just as the defeat- assumed complete authority over the ed spouse crawls back to his or her life, liberty, and property of every sub- abuser in a perpetual exercise of self- ject in the realm. This superior station flagellation. in life for royals is still a notion rein- People are often mesmerized with forced by ghastly tradition and most the idea that government is a kind of of the cute Disney films. god: omnipresent, omniscient, and In most of the animated Disney omnipotent. Toss a few hundred of the movies someone is trying to get, or to most sordid politicians into some leg- retain, a position of royalty as a king islative cauldron and one is often pre- or queen or prince or princess, with sumed to have the magic formula for a the right to rule all others in the king- civil god. dom. It is a fantasy taught by every Indeed, voters frequently call upon generation since storytelling began. government in the same way that some religious people pray. When they are fearful, when they are needy, DIVINE RIGHT OF or when they want prizes, voters MAJORITIES plead for politicians to answer their call for immediate brute, not spiritual, Americans in Hawaii celebrate two force against their neighbors. Instead other holidays that are just weeks of crosses, anthems, priests, com- apart. 1) Independence Day memorial- mandments, tithes, and obedience the izes the fight for freedom from civic believer sacrifices life to flags, England and 2) Kamehameha Day national anthems, politicians, statutes, memorializes the forced unification of taxes, and conscription. the Hawaiian islands by Kamehameha The source of this widespread jus- the "Great," a man who murdered tification for government used to be thousands of fellow islanders to bring 2 CENTRE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY courts, and defense. Such a FREE MARKETEERS SEE VOLUNTARY government was to give no ACTION AND CHOICE AS THE DRIVING FORCE, WITH MARKET ACTION AS A PROCESS OF privileged favors to anyone. DISCOVERY--BILLIONS OF INNOVATORS These are ideas wonderfully WORKING ON THE NEXT INCREMENTAL STEPS elucidated by Milton, Rose, TOWARD IMPROVING THEIR OWN LIVES and David Friedman. Statists have their vision everyone under his control. of what society should look like and There is no consistency in these their efforts are spent trying to force memorials-except victory. Kill one people to fit into it. Free marketeers, person and you are a murderer. Kill on the other hand, see voluntary thousands and you become a hero action and choice as the driving force, with your name engraved on build- with market action as a process of dis- ings and idolized by generations of covery– billions of innovators working schoolchildren-so long as you win in on the next incremental steps toward battle! improving their own lives. With the passing of monarchies, This isn't a radical new idea. It is a politicians have found a new justifica- logical idea that has haunted power tion for authority: the Divine Right of mongers throughout history. This lais- Majorities. Normally people do not sez-faire philosophy has deep roots believe that it is right to kill, to steal, to among the classical liberals of Europe lie, to covet, or to enslave. But under as well as in 2500 years of Asian the mantle of majority numbers, poli- thought. Lao Tzu, the founder of tics has become a kind of purification Taoism, opposed oppressive govern- ritual. With the approval of majority ment and asserted that the best action votes, however manipulated, even the by government was no action. These worst among us are elevated in status precepts were asserted in the book Lao and empowered to kill, to steal, to lie, Tzu: to covet, and to enslave with impunity. And they can even feel good about it. 17 The best rulers are those whose Free market champions reject this. existence is merely known by the Sound ethics are not derived from people. numbers and votes any more than 37 Tao invariably takes no action, and they are from victory in war. yet there is nothing left undone. If kings and barons can keep it, all MINIMAL, NEUTRAL things will transform spontaneous- ly. GOVERNMENT 57 Administer the empire by engag- ing in no activity. THOMAS JEFFERSON once declared, How do I know that this should be "That government is best which gov- so? Through this: erns least." As one of America's The more taboos and prohibitions founding fathers he believed in mini- there are in the world, the poorer the mal, neutral government, which was people will be… limited mostly to the protection of The more laws and orders are individual freedom through police, made prominent, the more thieves THE ETHICS OF LIBERTY 3 and robbers there will be, give to themselves. Therefore the sage says: I ask my students how much I take no action and the people of them- money has been stolen from them in selves are transformed. their entire lifetimes. They report that The more laws, the more thieves perhaps a couple thousand dollars has and robbers? Sure. For every rule that been stolen from the whole class of stands in the way of freedom is an students throughout their lives. "How opportunity for some official to sell a much of this was recovered by the favor. The favor may be to lift the bar- authorities?" They laugh and reply rier or to place a barrier in the path of that the authorities recovered virtually some competitor. none of this, even though such help is said to be a primary function of gov- ROBIN HOOD vs. ernment. Then I ask them how much of the THE SHERIFF OF government's spending is wasted. The NOTTINGHAM average estimate of students is that 50% of government spending is wast- THOUGH THIS is not what the gov- ed. I have them calculate how much ernment teaches in its schools. money they expect to earn when they Government schools are more likely to start their careers. I ask them to esti- teach that the government performs as mate how much the government will Robin Hood, the hero of the English take from them in taxes. ballads, taking from the rich and giv- Finally I ask them to compute the ing to the poor. amount of their own money that will I ask my students, "Who has more be wasted by government during a power, the rich or the poor?" They typical working year. At this point stu- reply that the rich have more power, dents realize that the government may of course. So if the rich have more throw away more of their earnings in power, is it likely that they are going a single year than free lance robbers to use this power to give up their will take from them in a lifetime. wealth? If they really wanted to give Why is it that people continue to up their wealth, they don't need gov- accept a state of affairs where the gov- ernment to do it for them.
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