The Coming Renaissance; L.E. Read

In Russia, for example, where the political apparatus controls all goods and services, the individual does not own the products of his labor. Indeed, state socialism, whether Russian or any other brand, has as one of its cardinal tenets the rejection of private property and of personal ownership. Further, whoever controls an individual's actions can be described as the owner of that individual. To the extent that a person is under the arbitrary control of Mr. Read is Founder and President of the Foundation for Economic Education. 9 10 LEONARD E. READ another or others, to that extent is the persona slave.1 Slavery-man-control of man-has its roots in antiquity. "Its validity as a system of labor was never seriously questioned. No attempt to abolish it was made by any ancient government. Nor did any· ancient religious body, even Christianity, challenge the right of its believers to own slaves. Greek political philosophy discussed the institution of slavery, but only as to whether it was a condition grounded in natural law or made by man. . . .

To the ancient mind slavery was a fixed and accepted element of life, and no moral problem was involved."2 Slavery, as a system of labor, persisted through the medieval period, extending itself into modern times. The framers of the American governmenta political arrangement more consistent with freedom than any other ever devised-ignored their own revolutionary idea that men derive their right to life from their Cre ator, when, in the Constitution, they failed to challenge the institution of slavery. More can be said about man's illiberality: The insti tution of slavery has never been downed, even in the 1 "What is essential to the idea of a slave? We primarily think of him as one who is owned by another ... That which funda mentally distinguishes the slave is that he labours under coercion to satisfy another's desires . . . What . . . leads us to qualify our conception of the slavery as more or less severe? Evidently the greater or smaller extent to which effort is compulsorily expended for the benefit of another instead of for self-benefit." From "The Coming Slavery:' a chapter in Herbert Spencer's The Man Versus the State. This book (213 pp.) belongs in every libertarian thinker's library-$3.50 cloth.

2 See Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. New York: The Mac millan Company, 1937. Vol. XIV. p. 74.

THE COMING RENAISSANCE 11 U.S.A.! Most Americans harbor the false notion that we did away with slavery when we "freed the slaves," that is, when we illegalized the holding of Negroes as chattels, as if that act-proper and long overdue-rooted out the evil. It left the real problem untouched. The Urge To Coerce The institution of slavery is only incidentally a color problem; definitively, it is the practice of the coercive inclinations of man to rule his fellow men. It is the tendency in many of us to play God, to lord it over others, to force compliance to our own wills. It is an inherited trace of barbarism, stubbornly unyielding to the whispers of civilization. This tendency to man-mastery, to rule, to "ride herd" over the actions of others, is strong and overpowering in a few of us and hangs on to some extent in most of us. Yet, this vestige of uncivilized man is relatively harm less so long as individuals with these despotic inclina tions cannot compel others to join them in their designs.

As much as we may deplore robbery as a labor-saving device, the common thief, acting singly, may get away with only a job or two before being apprehended. Most of us escape his control, which is to say, we are not en slaved by him; we get off scot-free when thieves are left to their own resources. But when an adult, failing to rid himself of the "cops and robbers" attitude of childhood, obtains the backing of the State in order to control the life and life sub12 LEONARD E. READ stance of others-either to feather his own nest or to gratify his compassionate instincts-then every person in the nation suffers as a consequence. His more or less harmless individual barbarity will turn to effective col lective despotism. To illustrate: If a person wanted the rest of us to help pay for his power and light, but had no means of com pulsion at his disposal, quite likely his wish would go ungratified. But give him and a few of his like-minded friends the police power of government, the power to force a nation of people to do their bidding, and we get ourselves a TVA. Remove this compulsive force, and TVA, as a formal, legal agency to subsidize some at the expense of all, would automatically terminate.

The compulsion observed in TVA is no isolated in stance. Rather, the same compulsive principle that makes TVA a reality is part and parcel of national polity. Compulsive political management, not competitive pri vate enterprise, is now the way to characterize the Amer ican economic system. We must not lose sight of the fact that our present system is founded on compulsion, and that this compulsive power has been captured by those whose object is to make everyone else behave their way. This is slavery pure and simple-if slavery be defined as the coercive imposition of someone's will upon others as relating to productive and creative actions. Once this compulsive power is used ·by those in gov ernment beyond the inhibitive, restrictive, punitive functions; once it is permitted to spill over into a control of creative actions, then this "spillage" will· be put on THE COMING RENAISSANCE 13 sale in the political market. Businessmen will vie for it to minimize competition; farmers will seize upon it as a means of gaining wealth without producing; labor unions will obtain a large share of it to enforce unwill ing exchange. This "spillage" is now employed through out the whole economy; it is the system! Frederic Bastiat referred to this as "spoliation."3 Compulsory Unionism Labor unions, for instance, would be socially as harm less as a· chamber of commerce or the Ladies Aid Society if denied compulsory membership. But admit compul sion and the dictatorial aims of a few are changed from relative impotence to raw, uncontrollable, devas tating. power. Be it remembered that a few, aided by tens of thousands coerced into membership, were able to bring the giant steel industry to a 116-day standstill, with world-wide economic repercussions.

This same compulsive power-political "spillage" permitted some tugboat workmen to halt all the rail roads serving the world's largest commercial city. A few weeks later, this power, the barbaric force that underlies the institution of slavery, was employed by several po litical "engineers" to idle half the world's aircraft, on which national and international commerce has be come dependent. 3 See The Law by Bastiat, a little book (76 pp.) that bears read ing and rereading. Irvington-on-Hudson, N. Y.: Foundation for Economic Education. $1.00 paper, $1.50 cloth.

14 LEONARD E. READ To the extent that this compulsive force controls the productive and creative actions of a person, to that ex tent is the person enslaved. Further, to the extent that this force exerts itself over the productivity and creativity of the A'merican community, to that extent does the in stitution of slavery exist in this land. Nor does it matter whether the force is exerted directly by government or indirectly by labor unions, businessmen, farmers, or others as they enforce strikes, protectionism, subsidies. Let this compulsive force get out of hand-as is now the case-and it becomes nearly impossible to put down. It feeds on itself, every extension calling for "correcting" extensions. Having no more power to limit itself than has a runaway truck, it must, eventually, destroy the so ciety on which it has parasitically fastened itself, for it only saps its victims-never strengthens them. This com pulsive force will destroy the society in which it is set loose short of one eventuality: a, voluntary revolution.

A Personal Accomplishment This voluntary revolution can have its locus only in individuals. It is the distinctly personal accomplishment of overcoming any desire to interfere in any way with the creative actions of any other person. It is the com plete subordination of the barbaric trait to cast others in one's own image. It is .the realization that others, as well as oneself, are accountable to their Creator, not to any self-appointed human substitute. In short, it is the elimination of the dictator complex from the human THE COMING RENAISSANCE 15 soul.4: The voluntary revolution is to forego the childish drive to coerce and to rely instead on voluntary action. The urge to compel is a trace of· barbarism; the mastery of the voluntary attitude is a distinguishing mark of civilized man. Some, while admitting that civilized man is the long range answer to despotism or slavery, will contend that the civilizing process is too slow to meet the needs of our own rapidly deteriorating situation. This contention is not valid. This voluntary process, being the only means at our disposal, is thus the fastest one there is.

Many of us will concede that we could, if we put our mind to it, attain the voluntary attitude "in no time at all"; that we could divest ourselves of any inclinations to control others; that it would be easy never to sponsor any political control of creative actions; that we could present ourselves as exemplars of this way of life. But a mischievous doubt intrudes itself: uGranted~ I could do this~ but to what avail if others cannot or will not make the effort?" This doubt is itself but a vestige of the slavery com plex-the lack of faith in what others can accomplish as self-controlling individuals-and should be put down. The only pO'sitive influence one can have on others in this respect is one's own exemplary behavior: Any right action radiates an ingathering power; sets enormous forces of emulation in motion. This influence is possible only as there is a concentration on the perfecting of self 4 See On Minding One's Own Business by William Graha'm Sumner. A small pamphlet, it is available from FEE for the asking.

16 LEONARD E. READ which, of course, requires that there not be a concen tration on the intellectual and spiritual shortcomings of others. Only where there is insight is there ingathering. Every forward step in civilization has been· brought about by this ingathering influence initiated, in each instance, by an individual. Edmund Burke, the great English statesman, clearly grasped this point, the secret to our own hoped-for renaissance: How often has public calamity been arrested on the very brink of ruin} by the seasonable energy of a single man? Have we no such man arnongstus? I am as sure as I am. of my being} that one vigorous mind withoutoffi,ce} with out situation} without public functions of any kind} (at a time when the want of such a thing is felt) as I am sure it is) I say} one such man} confiding in the aid of God} and full of just reliance in his own fortitude} vigor} enterprise} and perseverance} would first draw to him. some few like himself} and then that multitudes} hardly thought to be in existence} would appear and troop about him.

5 Let each individual do his best to gain and practice this voluntary attitude and, at the same time, have an abiding faith that this is the means to bring about the voluntary revolution; let you and me do this and we can confidently count on. the coming renaissance-a rebirth of freedom. 5 From his letter to William Elliott, May 1795.