Freedom; H.P. Phillips

A baby left entirely alone would be under no restraint but would not have much freedom. All it could do would be to die. I prefer to measure freedom positively by the things an individual can do. The grea ter the range of acti vi ties in which he can take part, the greater is his freedom. The actions of an individual can be limited in two ways. First, they may be restricted by the orders of a dictator, by the government, or by his neighbors. These are ex ternal restraints and absence of this kind of restraint might be called external freedom. Second, they may be limited by his own capacities or lack of capacities. These are internal restraints and absence of this kind of restraint might be called internal freedom. Without internal freedom the ex. ternal form is not worth much. I Dr. f,lhillips, now retired, was for many years head of the Department of Mathematics at the Massachusetts. Institute of Technology.

therefore discuss internal freedom first. Perhaps many people would ask, how can the freedom of an individ ual be self-limited? This is best shown by examples. A skilled workman has greater freedom than an unskilled one. For the unskilled can only do rough work. A skilled workman can also do rough work if he wants to, but he does not have to. In ad dition, he can do work which re quires skill. A wider range of ac tivities is available to him. He has greater freedom. An educated person has much more freedom than an uneducated one. For an uneducated person can only do manual labor. An educat ed person can also do manual la bor if he wants to, but he does not have to. In addition, he can do work of an intellectual nature. A much wider range of activities is open to him. He has much greater freedom. A person of good moral charac ter has more freedom than one who is lacking in this respect.

Criminals do not believe this. They 179 180 THE FREEMAN March say they can obey the moral rules if they want to, but they do not have to. But for this slight liberty they give up far more than they get. Suppose, for example, a man has been guilty of stealing. He can never get a position in a bank or any other position of trust. By a single transgression he has ex cluded himself from the most de sirable opportunities in life. He has greatly reduced his freedom. Similar effects follow from any other violation of the moral code. The reason for this is simple. When people live in close contact, efficient cooperation requires that their conduct conform to certain rules. These rules constitute the moral code. For its own success society automatically develops mechanisms which favor those who conform and oppose those who fail to conform to this code. Education toward Freedom The examples I have given all belong to the field of education.

Even good morals is a form of education acquired by those who have the good fortune to be born in and grow up in a suitable en vironment. And it is only through education that a person can ex pand his capabilities and so in crease his freedom. By education I do not mean merely what is learned in school. That is only a start. Handling the affairs of a nation involves a mass of "knowhow" learned in the street and in the factories, much of which exists only as custom. A good illustration of this is West Germany at the end of the second world war. At that time there was widespread destruction of industry in West Germany. To make matters worse the United States and its allies for some years after the fighting ceased stripped machinery from the few factories that were left and shipped it to Russia. Yet 10 years later West Germany was the most pros perous country in Europe, indus trially second only to the United States in the whole world, and people from other parts of Europe were flocking into West Germany to enjoy the greater opportunities existing there. The reason for this is clear. When the fighting ceased, the Germans were not a mob of untrained people but a group con taining individuals capable of do ing anything needed in a modern state. Given control of their own affairs, in a short time they had the business of the nation operat ing smoothly and' producti vely.

Compare this with the Congo. Under pressure from the native population and well-meaning out siders the Belgians, who had been directing the affairs of the nation, withdrew. There was immediate chaos. The great mass of the peo1968 FREEDOM 181 pIe had none of the qualities needed in a modern state. Left alone, such a people can only sink into savagery, victims of starva tion, disease, and superstition. Un der outside management they could be given the necessary train ing' but this would require at least a generation and during that pe riod they certainly would not be free. The conclusion is that without education no worthwhile freedom is possible. External Influences This brings me to the second part of my discussion, the limits on freedom imposed by external agencies. Left entirely alone, a person would have very little free dom. All of his time would be needed to keep alive. Some form of cooperation with others is thus a practical necessity and this re quires some restriction on individ ual action. The problem is to de vise a type of cooperation which permits the individual to do his best. The difficulty in doing this is due to the rapid advance in hu man affairs which quickly makes any detailed arrangement obsolete.

The speed of this advance is indi cated by certain facts. The first fact is that more than half of all we now know has been developed during my lifetime. This has been the work of science, for science is merely man's under standing of the universe, including his understanding of man as part of the universe. The second fact is that more than 90 per cent of all the scien tists who have ever lived are now alive and working, and the number is steadily increasing. Through the efforts of these people the ad vance in the future will certainly be much more rapid than during my lifetime. Under these conditions any de tailed plan devised by a govern ment quickly becomes obsolete and must be revised. Under govern ment operation this revision is merely the choice of one individual or small number of individuals. Under freedom the best methods suggested by anybody, because of their superiority are quickly adopted.

The effect of freedom is thus to produce maximum diversity in human affairs. Because of the large number of unknowns, the value of any suggested procedure cannot usually be determined by reason but must be tested by trial. The number of suggestions, the number of trials, and consequently the number of superior methods found is greatest when each indi vid ual makes his own choice. This is the reason for freedom and the reason why freedom will ultimately prevail. ~ WANTED: Managerfor New Society TypicalProblemsto Be Solved: • Determine what product or service each person most urgent ly needs in relation to his present means, his health, his family obligations, his education, and other pertinent factors. • Determine the quantity and quality of each item to be pro duced and establish prices for these items and their respec tive parts. • Prescribe the production method or methods to be used for each product and part thereof.