A Free Lance In the Market; R. Bearce

Since that period of shrewd study into Bolshevism eight years ago, I have lost my prized defini tion, not only in material fact but 1969 A FREE LANCE IN THE FREE MARKET 753 also from my memory, for I did have it memorized. Remember, I wanted to prepare myselfade quately for the opportunity to en lighten unwary Americans about the threat of the Red Horde. Quite frankly, my enlighten ment as to the horrors of com munism was nothing more than a nai ve, emotional response. It had nothing to do with a penetrating, conscious understanding of the real nature and threat of com munist theory. But in this type of involuntary hypocrisy, I doubt that I stand alone. I fear that today I have many comrades-in-arms who are zealous defenders of capitalism, the free market system, free en terprise, and the like, without practicing what they preach. Their devotion to the integrity of the in dividual is a deceiving accumula tion of words, cliches, and books on capitalism, not a day-by-day living example of that belief.

Several days ago, on my way to see my physician, I spotted a bul letin board outside a church which gave wee words of wisdom to passers-by. The message: "Preach by your ACTIONS and not by your WORDS!" Amen and ditto! We have a bad habit of cloaking ourselves in self-contented pride concerning our intentions and thoughts without ever taking positive steps for ward in proof of our faith. I've seen a lot of my physician these past few years. During my senior year of high school, I had to drop out due to illness. I· am now twenty-two, and still haven't recuperated enough to permit my attending a bastion of higher learning, that is a college, where some of my colleagues are sitting, cursing, marching, burning, and rioting. Yet, I have gained during this time a better understanding not only of communism but of many other areas of life as well. Despite my lack of a degree and material-physical assets that many claim necessary for security and accomplishment, I have rolled up my sleeves and entered into that stimulating proving ground for progress - the free market.

Rugged Competition No, I'm not an industrialist, public relations man, or supermar ket proprietor. I'm a freelance writer, a financially embarrassed one to be certain, but a writer, nevertheless. It is in this field of joy and disappointment that I have learned to appreciate free enter prise, and only when I began to understand this system did I really attain any knowledge of what communism is. I claim no more than an elementary understanding of the American economic system, 754 THE FREEMAN December but what I have learned on the positive side of capitalism proves to me that socialism has always failed, that it will always fail, and that it works contrary to the free dom with which man is endowed by God. Take away the hammer and sickle, the workers' parades with red banners, the brute force, and the concentration camps so char acteristic of Soviet communism, and what do you have? Nothing but a miserable, freedom-choking system known as socialism. In deed, if you removed the brute force, you wouldn't have socialism at all, since the system survives on totalitarian coercion bolstered by occasional transfusions of good old capitalism.

But I do not mean to wander into a slough of despond over the evils and sins of the socialist state in the Soviet Union. My testimony is one of optimism regarding my experience in the free market realm of editors and rejection slips. finding. the Market I am my own man, left to my self-discipline, individual initia tive, and personal responsibility. I've. no desire to write pornog raphy, so I have no state interfer ence or regulation. The only re strictions imposed upon my work are those I place on myself -laziness, conceit, inefficiency - and those placed on me by magazine editors. Now, magazine editors are hu man - a fact that I doubt often but one that gains credibility when the postman brings me a check in return for an accepted story. Edi tors are guided primarily by what their readers want, whether it be true confessions, murder mysteries, or essays on economic philosophy. This public demand is tempered by editorial innovations and ex periments. For example, the pub lic might not be in a mood for the harsh realities concerning air pol lution. An energetic editor, though, will use the informative power of his periodical to print a forceful article on the subject, even though his readers might possibly enjoy reading more about rattle snake hunting in Oklahoma.

My Writer's Market lists some 4,000 markets fora freelance writer. Imagine! Four thousand opportunities to sell the product of my ingenuity and initiative articles that might range from·a swashbuckling tale of the sea to an account of the young men and women working in Honduras with Amigos de las Americas. The pos sibilities open to me include art magazines, trade journals, nature magazines, travel magazines, and garden magazines. Those aren't all. There are calendar magazines, as-i 1969 A FREE LANCE IN THE FREE MARKET 755 trology magazines, poetry maga zines, and western magazines, not to speak of detective magazines, aviation magazines, and automo tive magazines. Suppose, for example, that I submit a brief article describing a certain druggist's participation in civic affairs to Drug Topics, a trade journal catering to the phar maceutical profession. As often is the case, my submission is reject ed. What do I do? I have at least thirteen other trade journals in the drug business that might find my article suited to their publish ing needs. I submit to them.

What does this mean? Free market capitalism and free com petition! The market is there, and it is open to me, unbridled by state interference. faith in freedom Plus Basic Political and Economic Rights It is in this field of writing that I have come to appreciate freedom. I can't really define this word; I don't need to, for I know that it works in men's lives. Freedom is a living faith to me, and I don't need to have a precise definition of it. Besides the political rights to freedom of speech and press, I have these five basic economic rights: 1. to work in callings and locali ties of my choice. 2. to bargain with my employers. 3. to go into business, compete, make a. profit. 4. to bargain for goods and serv ices in a free market. 5. to be free of arbitrary gov ernment regulation and control. One lesson writing has taught me, with no Iittle pain on my part, is that men definitely are not equal in some respects.

Our Declaration of Independ ence states: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. ..." What does this mean as we take it in the context of the remaining portions of the Declaration? Simply that each of us has the constitutional right to rise to any level of achievement in this world consistent with his in dividual capabilities and ambi tions. Nowhere in the Constitution· or Declaration of Independence do we find the Founding Fathers propos ing that government must assure its citizens equal standards of liv ing, equal intellectual achieve ment, or equal job status. Henry Van Dyke stated the thought quite nicely: "Democracy declares that men, unequal in their endowments, shall be equal in their right to de velop these endowments." Basic to the above documents of individual freedom are the be liefs that man is not perfect and that only God is divine. It follows that all utopian plans for chang756 THE FREEMAN December ing society through coercive legis lation against the integrity of the individual - all in the name of ul timate perfection-are predestined to failure and are contrary to the will of God.

This ambitious notion that state legislating will change man's en vironmental conditions and thus achieve utopia without poverty, discrimination, hatred, envy, and the like, is the pleasant reverie of social scholars in a dream world. The heart of the problem lies within man's heart. Only when man's inner self-seeking, rebel lious nature is changed can he set his mind to overcoming covetous ness, jealousy, and racial hatred. Man Is Responsible Man is responsible for his ac tions and thoughts-envy, hypoc risy, and yes, love for his fellow man. Assuming that some state could achieve an all-encompassing equalization of wealth - without totalitarian force - and a society with a minim urn of disease, I dare say we would still witness the product of man's inner nature greed, pride, and all the rest. Again, men are responsible, each individual endowed with varying ambitions and capabili ties.

Frequently in my writing, my ambitions sag, and I must admit, humbly so, that my capabilities remain at a fairly consistent low level. Thus it is that I receive ten rejection slips for each sale that I make. That's a discouraging bat ting average. Alas, do you not feel for the plight of the downtrodden freelance writer in America! I doubtless could make a case with today's compassionate hu manitarians and utopians who would demand that the state sub sidize me! My rightful share of this nation's wealth would be doled out to me! I could join the legions of other Americans who are daily relinquishing personal responsibility in return for great er authority over their lives! I would be on the road to blissful state security! No, thank you. I'm content to rise and fall, and rise and fall again according to my own ambi tions and abilities. I have a cer tain amount of satisfaction in knowing that when I'm up, it is due to my own efforts, and that when I'm down, it is due to my own failure.

Success or failure, I am respon sible for my own - and free to preach what I practice. ~ A REVIEWER'S NOTEBOOK JOHN CHAMBERLAIN JEFFREY ST. JOHN, author of Countdown to Chao8: Chicago, 1968: Turning Point in American Politics (Nash Publishing Corp., 9255 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif., $6.95), is among the proph ets. He has been the bearer of bad tidings, predicting the Yippie polit icalizing of the Hippie movement, and telling us of the leftist cam paign to substitute street brawl ing for Constitutional legislative procedures, long before any of it happened. But he also has his con structive side: he hopes to turn the forthcoming 200th anniversary of the Republic which is coming up in 1976, into a real celebration of the philosophy of the Founding Fathers, which included a prin cipled acceptance of libertarian economics as well as the politics of limited government and sepa ration of the powers.