Albert Nock's Job; N. Silia, Jr.

But how to distinguish one from the other, you ask? Perhaps Albert Mr. Silia, a member of The Nockian Society, is a freelance writer and poet. Jay Nock, founder and editor of the old Freeman, has the best so lution. For example, in his classic es say, "Isaiah's Job," Nock made it abundantly clear that his goal was not to convert the masses to any particular philosophy. "The mass-man," wrote Nock, "is one who has neither the force of intellect to apprehend the prin ciples issuing in what we know as the humane life, nor the force of character to adhere to these prin ciples steadily and strictly as laws of conduct; and because such peo ple make up the great, the over whelming majority of mankind, they are called collecti vely the masses." So, Nock's duty as he saw it was to tend the Remnant, those unique individuals who had, or were will ing to develop, the necessary in sight and ability to understand and employ ideas on liberty. In distinguishing them from the masses Nock noted: "The line of differentiation between the masses and the Remnant is set invariably by quality, not by circumstance.

The Remnant are those who by force of intellect are able to ap prehend these principles, and by force of character are able, at least measurably, to cleave to them. The masses are those who are unable to do either." So Nock's primary purpose, 4:19 440 THE FREEMAN July then, was not to alter public opin ion, manipulate news, or convert others to his way of thinking. He merely sought to improve himself and thereby become ever more capable of furnishing other seek ers with the inspiration and in sight which might further their own personal unfoldment. His job, in short, was to be a sort of cata lytic agent for the Remnant. Knowing beforehand that the masses were not to be transformed or converted, Nock did not be come discouraged in his task of servicing the Remnant. And once you clearly see his point you will understand its soundness. In other words, if your goal is to reform the world to your liking, you are slated for failure from the outset. For that task is im possible - as well as unnecessary.

But if your goal is to reform your self, and incidentally present the truth as you know it to others, then you cannot fail. Whether anyone accepts the ideas you present is immaterial to your goal. Even though you may convert no one, you still improve society by improving one of its units - yourself. Nevertheless, you can be sure that your self-improvement will attract the Remnant's attention, although you may not be aware of it. Or as Nock said, "... in any given society the Remnant are always so largely an unknown quan tity. You do not know, and will never know, more than two things about them: first, that they exist; second, that they will find you. Ex cept for these two certainties, worldng for the Remnant means working in impenetrable darkness." This, then, was Nock's job. It is likewise the job of all those who are interested in' promoting the cause of liberty. And to them, Nock offers this bit of encourage ment: "If, for example, you are a wri tel' or a speaker or a preacher, you put forth an idea which lodges in the Unbewusstsein of a casual rnember of the Remnant and sticks fast there. For some time it is in ert; then it begins to fret and fester until presently it invades the man's conscious mind and, ,as one might say, corrupts it. Mean while, he has quite forgotten how he came by the idea in the first instance, and even perhaps thinks he has invented it; and in those circumstances, the most interest ing thing of all is that you never know what the pressure of that idea will make him do."

This endeavor will, of course, strike a responsive chord only in those rare individuals \vho are ready to ,vork for the Remnant. ~ Write THE FREEMAN for a complimentary copy of "Isaiah's Job," Nock's story of The Rem nant. Quantities, 10 for $1.00; 100 for $7.00.