A Letter from Down Under; S. Yankus

STANLEY YANKUS A TIME COMES to most everyone when he tries to improve his situ ation by packing his belongings and moving across the prairies, mountains, and rivers. The free dom to move from one place to another is a valuable right. Ob serve how eagerly dictators sup press the free movement of people. No doubt about it, governments find it more difficult to saddle peo ple with oppressive controls and taxes when freedom of movement affords an escape. Twelve years ago my family and I migrated from the U.S.A. to Australia in reaction to govern ment interference with my farm ing methods in Michigan. Since my arrival in Australia, hundreds of Americans have exchanged let ters with me, discussing the pros and cons of migration. Parts of this correspondence may interest students of liberty who are explor ing the possibilities of a fresh start in the Land Down-Under. Freedom was the magnetic idea which attracted hundreds of thou sands of migrants to the U.S.A.

from other parts of the world in years past. So, let's have a look at the prospects for finding freedom in Australia: Dear ----: Your letter reminds me of my struggle when I decided to migrate to Australia. I can appreciate your strong desire to find a nice quiet spot on this troubled earth where freedom is regarded as a good idea by your neighbors. During the past twelve years of my life, I have thoroughly enjoyed the adventure of living the good 579 580 THE FREEMAN October life in Australia. Although I'm enthusiastic about the land of the kangaroos, kookaburras, and koala bears, I never tell any Americans to migrate here. You may wonder about that, so please let me ex plain: Thousands of American mi grants have already arrived in Australia and more are on the way. Some have succeeded in es tablishing homes, finding jobs, and making friends with their new neighbors. Others, finding numer ous faults and becoming con vinced they made a mistake, have returned to the U.S.A. Now if you want a good opinion of Australia, you can get it by asking an Ameri can who stayed here; and if you want a bad opinion of Australia you ask one of those who returned to the U.S.A. You can have your choice of good or bad opinions from people who are altogether sincere.

But please note: There are not two different Australias. The rea son for the difference of opinion about Australia lies within each person's character - not in the ex ternal environment. Some people buckle at the knees when con fronted with a problem that is heavier than a feather. Others are resourceful and self-reliant. So, a program of self-improvement is important in your life, no matter where you live. I have often been asked, "Do the Australians like Americans?" Such a generality is quite mean ingless. Obviously, not all of the Australians nor all of the Ameri cans are going to like each other. Furthermore, not every Australian likes each of his fellow Austral ians, and the same can be said for every nationality in the world. The question we are really con cerned with is, "What must I do to get others to like me?" If you pet a dog, he will respond by wagging his tail in appreciation, and if you kick the same dog he will respond by snarling or biting you. Likewise, a given person may be kind to you or bad-tempered with you. If you want people to like you, it is best to practice kindness and other qualities of self-improvement.

"What is the condition of the economy in Australia?" is some thing migrants want to know. Now let us suppose that economic con ditions in Australia were the best ever, but here is a poor fellow recently hit by a truck while cross ing the street, resulting in loss of the use of his legs. Furthermore, he has cancer and rheumatism and he lost his life's savings in a com pany that went bankrupt. As you can plainly see, the. buoyant condi tion of the economy means nothing at all to this unfortunate fellow, nor does it mean that much to 1971 A LETTER FROM DOWN-UNDER 581 you. If you are industrious and follow a program of self-improve ment, you will also have enough self-confidence to find a way to earn a living in Australia. You well know that we don't get things in life from Santa Claus; we have to earn what we get. You are not going to find freedom in Australia; you will have to earn it by practicing self-improvement.

However, some of my acquaint ances haven't been able to see a connection between freedom and self-improvement. When they think of self-improvement, they think of learning how to fix cars, or writing legibly, or being courteous, or dressing neatly, and so on. "How is that going to promote the cause of freedom?" they ask. Perhaps I can illustrate the close relationship between freedom and self-improvement by quoting a prospective migrant who wrote to me: "I'm fed up with government controls, high taxes, and inflation in the U.S.A. and I want to mi grate to Australia." A few lines later he asked, "How much money will the Australian government pay toward my assisted passage to Australia?" If this fellow had practiced self-improvement and be come self-supporting, he would have realized that the Australian government has no money of its own to give him. The only way the Australian government can provide migrants with assisted pas sage money is by imposing higher taxes or more inflation, or both, on the Australian taxpayers.

I have often been asked if there is more freedom in the U.S.A. or in Australia. If you put all the law books of the U.S.A. in one pile and all the law books of Aus tralia in another, you would have two big piles of restrictions. The quickest way to reduce the number of restrictive laws, and thereby increase. freedom, is through self improvement. Self-improvement really means teaching yourself to be good. Good people do not re quire restrictive laws, nor do they impose them on others. Another American wrote to me, saying, "When I arrive in Aus tralia, I won't have enough money to travel all over the place. Can you tell me the best place in Aus tralia to live 1" I replied, "I will gladly tell you the best place to live in Australia, but first you must tell me the best place in the U.S.A." Of course, he never an swered my question because there is no such thing as the best place. In selecting a new place to live, we try to find as many as we can of the conditions we like best. A teacher will want to live near schools; a vegetarian will want to live near fruits and vegetables; a sailor will want to live near the sea; and so on.

582 THE FREEMAN October No Paradise on Earth You will never find a Paradise which affords exactly what you want. If you asked a hundred peo ple to individually describe the ideal place to live, its name would be "Chaos." What is the ideal house, car, dog, school, job, food, or whatever? There are disagree ments galore! No matter where you migrate, you will find people who disagree with one another. The best way to get along with others and the best way to pro mote freedom is to mind one's own business and practice self-improve ment. If that doesn't work, nothing will. A correspondent from Rhode Island writes: "We cannot afford to pull up stakes here and move to Australia and then decide we don't like it, and move back. We just don't have the money to do this." This man's problem reminds me of the comment by one of our neighbors in Michigan as we were leaving for Australia: "I don't see how you can move to Australia with your family when you don't know anything about the place.

How do you know you will like it there ?" "When I got married," I re plieo, "I didn't know if everything would turn out all right. I took a risk then, and I'm going to take another risk by moving to Aus tralia." Every time we read a new book, or get a new job, or meet a new acquaintance, or taste an apple, or any of a thousand other events, there is a risk that we won't like our experience. Risk-taking is a condition imposed on us by Cre ation; the future is unknown to us. Unexpected events frequently occur. The fear of taking risks drives many people into govern ment-guaranteed welfare schemes which are so destructive to free dom. Governments seem to be far more effective in eliminating free dom than in removing risk. I gladly accepted the risk of solving these problems - I certainly didn't want the government to select my job, my home, or my friends. Nor do I assume you really want to avoid such risks.

After settling in South Aus tralia, I heard good reports about the States of Western Australia and Queensland. No matter how excellent the conditions of life, we imagine they could be much better elsewhere. Herbert Shelton, one of my favorite authors, shrewdly ob serves: "Wherever you choose a place [to live] you will wish ever after that you had chosen a dif ferent one." My experience tells me that perpetual dissatisfaction is part of human nature. If we were completely satisfied with everything, we would cease to ex plore, and to discover, and to live. I Changingconcoptsof ••••• ••• •• •• •• PRIVATEPROPERTY BERTEL M. SPARKS IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY of civil ized society there never has been a time when the concept of private property was not undergoing change, and it is unlikely that there ever will be such a time. Since the concept of private prop erty is a legal concept, it is ap propriate to add that civilized society cannot exist without law and that law cannot exist without property. While some may doubt that last statement, it is believed that such doubts will be removed upon a few moments reflection.