Aisa: the impotent specter; H. L. Smith

ized Japan. All of Asia, exclusive of Japan, is economically no match for our Eastern Seaboard. Had Southeast Asia and Korea fallen to communism along with China in 1949, we doubtless would have written off the entire area to the enemy and changed our defense perimeter accordingly. Of course, economic size is not the only measure of military men ace. Cuba is economically slightly larger than North Vietnam; yet Havana's proximity makes it a greater threat to our territorial integrity than is Hanoi. Because of its industrial base, Czechoslo vakia may be a greater threat than is Indochina, though they are economic equals. Our struggle with communism has one central deterrent: we must avoid World War III. While fighting in Vietnam, we are ef fectively constrained from attack ing Moscow whose concentration 1970 ASIA, THE IMPOTENT SPECTER 553 Source: Data for U. S. cities extrapolated from U. S. Statistical Abstract. 1969. All other information based upon World Bank Atlas, 1969, published by International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

POPULATION AND GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT 1967 earning $100 per year, is bewild ered by the conflicting ideological and economic theories of Adam Smith and Karl Marx, neither of which is particularly applicable to his pastoral economy. His welfare is based on being left alone. Al though he doubtless detests the cruelty of his brutalized brothers Population GNP (millions) (billions) $ 2.0 .3 .9 2.9 4.3 1.8 $12.2 2.0 2.6 13.9 101.4 64.8 100.0 160.0 229.0 730.0 88.3 13.0 5.6 2.1 17 3 7 10 33 26 96 20 8 6 120 720 100 1,600 236 199 19 3 1.2 .5 SoutheastAsia: South Vietnam Laos Cambodia Malaysia Thailand Burma Total North Vietnam Cuba Switzerland Eastern Europe China Japan All Asia (except Japan and Near East) U.S.S.R. U.S.A. California Los Angeles GreaterSan Diego Newark of military power is greater than that of all other communist areas combined. The satellite nations of Eastern Europe are economically larger than China, and more im portant to communist power than is Asia, yet we can do nothing to help them militarily even when they struggle for freedom.

There is an outstanding excep tion to the correlation between economic size and military poten tial. It involves fighting on home ground rather than overseas. Tiny North Vietnam, even bolstered by foreign aid, is economically small er than San Diego county; yet, the North Vietnamese have been able to hold American and South Vietnamese armies at bay for nine years. Of course, the American arsenal lacks the indispensable weapon of consensus. Neverthe less, an army of half a million men supported by $30 billion in yearly expenditures, can only be termed leviathan by historical standards. Many thoughtful Amer icans feel that this effort coupled with rising taxes, inflation, dis sension, and 40,000 deaths, is ef fectively draining us economically and emotionally of reserves which might be needed in some future more significant contingency. Others hope that this sacrifice will provide an ideological victory over communism.

The illiterate Asian peasant, 554 THE FREEMAN September from the north, he is also con fused and demoralized by an in terminable war of liberation fought by French and American armies in his rice paddies. The form of communism gen erally embraced by primitive peo ples differs from the industrial communism of Europe. The great ideological rift in the communist world is worth many military vic tories in Asia. Russia has depart ed from strict·· Marxist tenets to adopt state capitalism. The Chi nese purists vehemently denounce this deviation. They, in turn, have adapted Marxism to a peasant economy as opposed to the prole tariat. Indochina, by its very na ture, would adopt peasant Marx ism if converted, thus adding to the communist rift. Even under these circumstances, it is doubtful whether Southeast Asia would be come closely allied with its tradi tional enemy, China. Communism is merely aggres sive Rocialism. In the U.S.A., the socializing process has been in tensified during the past forty years and has now erupted into carbuncles of hard-core revolution.

Many well-armed nations have fallen through treachery, and this process may be more menacing to our future than is the communiz ing of peasants thousands of miles away. Nothing hastens the transition from capitalism to socialism more surely than does heavy taxation. It is immaterial whether these taxes are used for social welfare, for weapons, or for war. When we pay another nation's bills or fight another nation's war, the process helps to socialize the United States. Asia, communist or otherwise, has overwhelming problems which effectively neutralize her impact on the twentieth century. When Russia builds an extra 100 mis siles or ten more nuclear subma rines, the balance of world power is more severely affected than by the ebb and flow of events in pas toral Asia. The paradox of militarism in a free society has plagued the world for centuries. Over 2,500 years ago, the Athenians were menaced from Asia. Yet, despite repeated attacks by the mighty Persians, the Athenians refused to enslave themselves militarily as did the Spartans. Instead, they resorted to special arming when necessary, as was the policy of the United States until recent years. Both Athens and the United States re lied on their wealth and industrial might for security and refused to jeopardize this base through the: excessive taxation required for powerful standing armies. This calculated risk resulted in the greatest heritages of wealth, cul1970 ASIA, THE IMPOTENT SPECTER 555 ture, and technology the world had known in each case. The Athenian victories at Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea, against incredible odds, would seem to vindicate a faith in the invincibility of the free individual human spirit.

It is in individualism that Amer ica has always found strength and The Vital Secret wisdom. Faith in God and self has been to our best interests. Removing a huge army and its equipment from a remote area can not be accomplished overnight. But an understanding of the eco nomic and political realities of Asia ought to help get the job done. ® IDEAS ON LIBERTY NOT ONLY foreign visitors, but many who have lived all their lives in the United States, observe the comparatively higher level of living here than in other countries and seek a reason why. If we would share our material achievements and our industrial progress with those less fortunate than ourselves, either within the United States in socalled pockets of poverty, or in other countries, let us try to better understand the nature of self-re spect, learn to practice it more faithfully and fruitfully, in due humility, so that others may choose to do the same. From true and humble self-respect $tems respect for the property and the lives of others. Once a people understand the importance of life and property, and come to respect another's as they respect their own, then they are in a position to organize a government of limited powers, knowing full well the limitations of coercive methods. And then, but not before, they are ready to practice freedom and enjoy such blessings of freedo:rn as tools, machinery, electrification, auto mation, and a high and rising level of living.

Perhaps, if this were the secret of American progress that we undertook to share with the rest of the world, we might come to understand it well enough to preserve our own freedom. PAUL L. POIROT CLARENCE B. CARSON TlIzottling tile Bailzoads THERE have been three stages of government regulation of the rail roads, though a fourth one appears to be taking shape in recent years. The first stage was that of state efforts at regulation and control, a stage which encompassed such regulation as there was until 1887. In the second stage, 1887-1920, the Federal government began its reg ulatory intervention and to occupy much of the field. The third stage is bounded by the years 1920-1958, and the Federal government has been the dominant intervener in this period. Since 1958, govern ments have begun a hesitant shift Dr. Carson is a frequent contributor to THE FREEMAN and other journals and the author of several books, his latest being The War on the Poor (Arlington House, 1969). He is Chairman of the Social Science Department at Okaloosa-Walton College in Florida.