THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY IDEAS AND INFLUENCE 251 Perspective-An Affirming Flame 253 The World in the Grip ofan Idea Revisited by Clarence B. Carson 260 The Welfare State: Promising Protection in an Age ofAnxiety by Robert Higgs 267 Losing Freedom Costs a Lot by John Semmens 274 "I, Pencil" by Leonard E. Read 279 Education and the Free Society by George Roche 283 Fifty Years of FEE-FiftyYears of Progress in Austrian Economics by Israel M Kirzner 290 Civil Rights Socialism by Llewellyn H Rockwell, Jr. 295 Environmental Protection: The New Socialism? by Jane S. Shaw 299 Freedom and American Labor Relations Law: 1946-1996 by Charles W Baird 310 Banking and Freedom in the Fifty Years of FEE by Steven Horwitz 315 The Economic Foundations of Freedom by Ludwig von Mises 322 Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Ayn Rand: Three Women Who Inspired the Modern Libertarian Movement by Jim Powell THE PAST AS PROLOGUE 332 Onward Still by Hans F Sennholz 337 FEE and the Climate of Opinion by Bettina Bien Greaves 348 Leonard Read, the Founder and Builder by Mary Sennholz 355 From Leonard Read: A Legacy of Principles by Melvin D. Barger 362 The Moral Dimension of FEE by Gary North 371 The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty by Paul L. Poirot 375 The Function of The Freeman by Henry Hazlitt 380 The Foundation for Economic Education: Success or Failure? by Benjamin A. Rogge COLUMNS 271 POTOMAC PRINCIPLES-FiftyYears of Statism by Doug Bandow 320 ECONOMICS on TRIAL-One Graph Says It All by Mark Skousen 346 IDEAS and CONSEQUENCES-FEE: A Lighthouse for Freedom by Lawrence W Reed BOOKS 393 The Literature of Liberty by EdmundA. Opitz and Robert Batemarco 401 The Case for the Free Market by John Chamberlain 403 Bastiat, Liberty, and The Law by Sheldon Richman 407 Classics Reconsidered eJohn Attarian: Democracy and Leadership by Irving Babbitt; Leonard P Liggio: The Servile State by Hilaire Belloc; Raymond J. Keating: Wealth and Poverty by George Gilder; Murray Weidenbaum: The Constitution of Liberty by Friedrich A. Hayek; Dwight R. Lee: "The Use of Knowledge in Society" by Friedrich A. Hayek; William H Peterson: The Failure of the "New Economics" by Henry Hazlitt; James L. Payne: The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State and Other Essays by Auberon Herbert; Matthew Carolan: Modern Times by Paul Johnson; William C. Dennis: In Defense of Freedom and Related Essays by Frank S. Meyer; Jane S. Shaw: Knowledge and Decisions by Thomas Sowell; Peter J. Boettke: Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises. IN APPRECIATION . .. 388 FEE Trustees and Staff, 1946-1996 412 The Freeman, Honor Roll ofAuthors, 1956-1996 THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY PERSPECTIVE Published by The Foundation for Economic Education Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533 Phone (914) 591-7230 FAX (914) 591-8910 An Affirming Flame E-mail: [email protected] President: Hans F. Sennholz For half a century, the Foundation for Managing Editor: Beth A. Hoffman Economic Education has devoted itselfto study­ Guest Editor: Mark Spangler ing and explaining the principles that underlie a Editor Emeritus Paul L. Poirot free society, striving to make its message acces­ Lewisburg, Pennsylvania sible to people from all walks oflife. Book Review Editor Robert Batemarco Those who assume (often automatically) that Marymount College, Tarrytown, New York Associate Editor America is still the model ofa free society, might Gregory P. Pavlik view fifty years offreedom talk as pointless pon­ Assistant Editor William J. Watkins, Jr. dering. But others, who comprehendjust how far Editorial Assistant Mary Ann Murphy down the socialist path Americans have walked, Columnists admire FEE as a champion in the intellectual Doug Bandow Cato Institute, Washington, D.C. fight to renew liberty. The seven trustees who Lawrence W. Reed Mackinac Center for Public Policy founded FEE in 1946 correctly anticipated in Midland, Michigan Mark Skousen their original prospectus that those most interest­ Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida ed in FEE's activities would "have no doubts Contributing Editors Charles W. Baird about the decline of economic liberty in California State University, Hayward Doug Bandow America. Coercion is being rapidly substituted Cato Institute, Washington, D.C. Peter J. Boettke for voluntary enterprise. Collectivism is displac­ New York University ing individualism." Clarence B. Carson American Textbook Committee By the 1940s, this shift in ideas had marked a Wadley, Alabama Thomas J. DiLorenzo critical point in world history. In the United Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland Joseph S. Fulda States, the last bulwark of freedom, an under­ New York, New York Bettina Bien Greaves standing of the ideological heritage that yielded Resident Scholar, FEE the most prosperous country ever was quickly Robert Higgs The Independent Institute, Oakland, California fading as people sanctioned government solu­ John Hospers University ofSouthern California tions and political programs to guarantee the Tibor R. Machan Auburn University good life. In bold contrast, a solitary FEE Ronald Nash Reformed Theological Seminary embarked upon its mission, and emerged as Edmund A. Opitz more than an educational organization. Chatham,Massachusetts James L. Payne FEE and its founder, Leonard E. Read, would Sandpoint, Idaho William H. Peterson come to occupy a special place in the hearts of AdjunctScholar, Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C. Jane S. Shaw many "students ofliberty" who, before discover­ PERC, Bozeman, Montana Richard H. Timberlake ing this wellspring of inspiration and comfort, University ofGeorgia felt isolated in their thinking. The late Benjamin Lawrence H. White University ofGeorgia Rogge referred to Read's FEE as "an island of The Freeman is the monthly publication of The Foundation for sanity in an increasingly insane world" and an Economic Education, Inc., Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533. FEE, established in 1946 by Leonard E. Read, is a non-political, educa­ institution that merited total appreciation for tional champion of private property, the free market, and limited government. FEE is classified as a 26 USC 501(c)(3) tax-exempt burning "abrilliant and never-failing and affirm­ organization. ing flame." In rallying freedom's thought leaders Copyright © 1996 by The Foundation for Economic Education. Permission is granted to reprint any article in this issue, except "Three and emulators, FEE fashioned the basic fabric of Women Who Inspired the Libertarian Movement," provided credit is given and two copies of the reprinted material are sent to FEE. the modern libertarian movement. The costs of Foundation projects and services are met through donations, which are invited in any amount. Donors of$30.00 or more To say that FEE is the "granddaddy" of pro­ receive a subscription to The Freeman. Student subscriptions are $10.00 for the nine-month academic year; $5.00 per semester. Additional freedom think-tanks has practically become a copies of this issue of The Freeman are $7.00. For foreign delivery, a cliche-but true nevertheless. Leonard Read was donation of$45.00 a year is suggested to cover mailing costs. Bound volumes of The Freeman are available from The Foundation the first to react in an effective, organized way to for calendar years 1972 to date. The Freeman is available in microform from University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI48106. the rise ofcollectivism and statism in twentieth- 251 PERSPECTIVE FEE's Irvington-on-Hudson home-an 1889 Hudson River mansion purchased and converted into offices in 1946. centuryAmerica. He imbued his institution with rights legislation, environmental regulation, a style that was to become a trademark-focus­ compulsory unionism, and central banking. ing on ideas rather than personalities, searching Classic reprints by Leonard Read and for truth rather than compromise, and educating Ludwig von Mises illustrate the importance of self rather than reforming others. FEE's exam­ free markets. We also hear about the resurgence ple encouraged the establishment of similar in Austrian Economics, and three authors organizations not only in this country but the whose impact on libertarianism was made world over. FEE continues to serve a vital role through the popular press. in the revival of classical liberalism. In a special series ofarticles FEE staffmem­ Attempting to distill the essence of such an bers and associates reflect on the Foundation's organization's half-century of activities into a past and future, its founder, and the develop­ single publication would be challenging (if not ment of a literature of freedom-abundant foolhardy). Nonetheless, this issue of The today but scarce at FEE's founding. Current Freeman, the banner publication for the last president Hans F. Sennholz advises that FEE's forty of FEE's fifty years, commemorates the mission is more urgent than ever. Despite the golden anniversary of the Foundation for collapse of socialist economies, the United Economic Education. It is dedicated to Leonard States may be weaker today in the spiritual and Read and the writers, speakers, editors, staff, moral antecedents of a free society as socialist trustees, and students who have devoted them­ values live on in the minds of many Americans selves to FEE's operations or graced the pages under various labels. of its publications. Finally, the spirit of FEE's golden jubilee Our special issue opens by revisiting the idea could not have been captured without hearing that has captured the fancy ofworld populations directly from people who have been inspired by and prompted the forming ofFEE-socialism in FEE. They speak for themselves as their stories all its versions. Subsequent articles survey trends and expressions of gratitude are quoted in collectivist variants found in the United throughout this issue. States-welfarism (and its massive costs), -Mark Spangler, Guest Editor democratic statism, government schooling, civil Beth A. Hoffman, Managing Editor 252 THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON UBERTY The World in the Grip ofan Idea Revisited by Clarence B.