The Straight Line; R. LeFevre

[184 ] we all sprang, into the visible. Cause must inevitably precede the effect. Method Is Important Since, in this world of ours, we tend to concentrate upon effects, the importance of selecting the precisely correct method to arrive at the effect we want, is of para mount importance. The means to the end are, in a sense, the tools we must use to achieve. If we select the wrong tools-thus, the wrong means-the end cannot be what we envisage. No end can possibly be desirable if, to achieve it, we must use immoral and evil methods. Strangely, almost mystically, man tends to become that upon which he concentrates. A man preoccupied with earning money, placing money as his immediate and all encompassing goal, is very apt to have a great deal of money. The reason more people do not have more money is simply because they do not concentrate upon this one thing. Instead, they permit themselves to be drawn away from that objective, thus scattering their energies upon a thousand devious things. Their actual progress in a given direction is related directly to their ability to con centrate upon that direction. To achieve mightily, intense concentration is mandatory.

In discussing the nature of freedom and the problems which must inevitably come up when we think of a totally free society, we note the ever-ready willingness of persons to abandon freedom as a goal and to permit themselves to be sidetracked. [ 185] Most persons who believe in freedom, for example, will admit that a certain amount of defensive force is inherent in freedom. If there are persons in our midst-and who could deny it-who will not govern themselves, it follows that something or someone outside themselves must govern them. Control is essential, lest chaos ensue. The problem is to create a desire within the individual so that he will practice self-control. When he does so, there is no further necessity for worrying about him. If. he is gov erning himself, there is no necessity for someone else to govern him. But it is at this point that many otherwise good stu dents of liberty turn aside. Instead of concentrating upon liberty, they strike off on a tangent, busying themselves with seeking to find ways and means of controlling others. And what they concentrate upon, they tend to become.

Defensive Force Becomes Aggressive It might be said that this is mankind's basic trap. For, having acknowledged that defensive force is necessary, we must accept the corollary that it is necessary only when aggressive force is present. If the amount of aggressive force in evidence at a given time is diminished, it follows that the necessary amount of defensive force would diminish in the same exact ratio. If more defensive force exists than aggression necessitates, then force, presumably defensive in char acter, becomes itself aggressive. [ 186] Thus, it will be seen by keen· students of human nature that if we concentrate our energies upon provid ing adequate defensive force, we will in all probability exceed the requirement for such force. Instead, if we can concentrate upon freedom and upon attaining greater and greater self-control in' ourselves, then the need for defensive force will diminish as the possibility of aggres sive force being used diminishes.

In the end, we will be that which we concentrate upon. Shall we renew our concentration upon freedom? Or shall we succumb to the temptation to concentrate upon security, protectionism, and finally, force? [187 ] THE FEDERAL RAID ON LIBERTY tg G. W. 2 gte6 ~ IN AMERICA, we still ride the crest of a wave of material progress unique in the history of mankind. If that terminology implies danger ahead, the implica tion is deliberate. We seem to be abandoning the prin ciples and practices of personal freedom that released the human energy behind our tremendous productivity. Instead of fearing and limiting the power of government, we behave as though central planning, compulsion, and control were the source of our well-being. We keep on granting authority to and seeking favor from a govern ment, the tax burden of which approaches the limit that any economy can bear. My contention is that we are deceiving ourselves in many ways, one of the most subtle and disastrous of which is the system of federal grants-in-aid. This clever scheme, involving an apparent separation of those who are taxed from those who receive the funds, allows the latter to believe they are getting something for nothing.