Off the Beaten Track; L.E. Read

THE BEATENTRACK O_F_F _ LEONARD E. "READ I HAVE long been intrigued by the seeming paradox that the more one knows the more he knows he does not know. This is another way of saying that every gain in knowledge increasingly exposes one to the infinite unknown. 1 Another aspect of this intrigu ing paradox: as a person grows in knowledge he is exposed to a new set of friends - and almost cer tainly faces a dwindling number of old friends. There are many ways to lose friends, of course, but what I am suggesting is that a dwindling audience is not nec essarily a sign of failure; on the contrary, it may signify personal progress. This is the point I would like to explore. Ortega presents us with the reali ty of this problem: 1 See "The IFiHdom in Knowing I Kllow j\/ot," ]\'OtCH from P/;;E, March. 1971. Copy on request. So far as ideas are concerned, meditation on any theme, if positive and honest, inevitably separates him who does the meditating from the opinion prevailing around him, fronl that which ... can be ca:lled "public"

or "popular" opinion. Every intel lectual effort sets us apart froni the commonplace, and leads us by hid den and difficult paths to secluded spots where we find ourselves anlid unaccustomed thoughts. These are the results of 111editation.:! Why dwell on this? A simple reason: if you are on the right track and gaining in knowledge but fail to read these signs aright, you may throw in the sponge simply because liRteners are fe\v; you may call it quits just before the dawn. In a word, I hope to :! What Is Philosophy? by Ortegoa y Gasset (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1960) p. 15. 415 416 THE FREEMAN July present an antidote for discour agement, a way of viewing matters that will help to "keep the chin up." Not only yours, but my own! In the area of our concern, it is easy to mistake success for failure. Why? Simply because success is often equated with a growing number of adherents, failure with a declining number, as if the quality of ideas and the quantity of better thinkers go hand in hand. We tend to expect that any improvement in ideas will auto matically attract a wider audience; whereas, quite the opposite might happen.

Popularity Contests Not the Path to Truth My thinking in this matter has been stimulated in part by a slight drop in FEE's mailing list over recent months, while at the same time we are told by others that our publications and seminars are better than ever before - and that we must do' something to "reach more people." Were numbers here and now the sole measure of success,' then the recipe would be (1) a. point of view consistent with "public" or "popular" opinion; and, (2) char ismatic personalities. Examples can be found in the political realm: engaging and energetic copycats of the current consensus putting themselves in the vanguard. Were ours just a numbers game, then we would attractively proclaim "free enterprise" and loudly decry "socialism." And let it go at that! For there are mil lions paying lip service to freedom and proclaiming opposition to so cialism who are anxious to ally themselves with those of similar leanings - so long as the specific aspects of these opposed ways of life are left unexamined. But nev er, for heaven's sake, go beyond the generalities and attempt a de tailed study of these ideologies!

To do so assures alienation, a marked dwindling of old friends, perhaps a few new ones. Our meditations .at FEE over the past quarter century have been positive and honest. Even our de tractors concede that we have so operated, and with consistency. In the beginning our position was more or less a generalization: in favor of freedom and opposed to socialism and other variants of authoritarianism. But the more we meditated, the more did some commonly accepted practices of "free enterprisers" and "anti-so cialists" show up as bearing the seeds of socialism behind the la bels. Further, we have never held the results of these meditations to ourselves for fear of giving of fense, that is, we have not bowed to. expediency. For instance, some 20 years ago 1972 OFF THE BEATEN TRACK 417 we published The Tariff Idea, a critique of protectionism, the case for freedom in, transactions. The criticisms we received were severe, and several large corporate sup.,.

porters dropped FEE then and thereafte;r. Over the years all of our books and each of nearly 3,000 essays have, in one way. or an other, affronted the mores, gone counter to the current trends and accepted opinions. This is to say, we have upheld the basic principles of voluntary exchange, private ownership, limited government while, at the same time, challeng ing those flaws of coercive or gov ernmental intervention parading under the name of free enterprise. Such unaccustomed thoughts are not popular! To Find a Better Way This is why the serious freedom devotees may not rely on numbers -popular acclaim - as an objec tive. For the prime requirement of such an objective is to stay on the beaten track, to go along with commonly accepted notions. But must we not abandon the beaten track if we would find a better one? To "go along" is to go with out prospect of improvement. To play the numbers game is to ac cept the fallacies that ought to be exposed and displaced.

The soundness of a philosophy cannot be gauged by numbers of followers. In this respect, the phi losophy of freedom is similar to religion. True, we can count the financial supporters of the several religions and the church attendees, but these numbers reveal abso lutely nothing as to the depth or profundity of religious convic tions.Religious faith, so-called, is founded on diverse forces, rang ing all the way from fear and su perstition to cosmic consciousness. We must note, however, that all of the significant religions have been inspired by some one whose purity of thought - meditations, if you will - provided that rich spiritual insight which made possible the awakening of others. High Mortality of New Ideas Continuing the analogy, be it noted that each religion was, ini tially, an affront to "public" and "popular" opinion, a complete break with the mores. Each was born in an environment more or less hostile to its precepts. These initiators of high ethical, moral, and spiritual ideas have, in every instance, presented thoughts un familiar to most people at the time.

It is only when we make prog ress in learning what the ideal is, while standing foursquare there with in' our proclaimed positions, that we aid the cause of freedom. True, we will never fully compre418 THE FREEMAN July hend the ideal, let alone realize it, but we can everlastingly strive for this purity in thought. Be certain of this: the nearer we come to knowing and upholding the ideal, the greater is the probability that the good society may emerge. Why? Because men can establish the good society only upon what is right and true. Upon that alone, and nothing else! Fungus may be spawned by a muck heap; but the good society is the emergence and flowering of the best there is in thoughtful meditation. The best flows always from one - the one who comes nearest to being the perfect ex emplar. Viewed in this manner, the so-called problems of society break down to a level a person might comprehend. One's duty is not to fall in step with present im perfections but, rather, to strive for his own perfection. Upon whom, then, does the solution de pend? Upon the world's most im portant person: YOU! f) IDEAS ON L$ LIBERTY The Personal Practice of Freedom FREEDOM RESTS, and always will, on individual responsibility, individual integrity, individual effort, individual courage, and individual religious faith. It does not rest in Washington. It rests with you and me.

Two things you and I can do, and two only. First, we can prac tice what we profess. Second, we can each preach, from our own personal pulpit, the principles we practice, whether that pulpit looks out upon a continent, a country town, or a single cottage. As we thus prove our faith by our works - as we accept with diligence and devotion the responsibility for areas within our reach - as we inspire those about us and send them in turn to inspire others - we shall find that we are making an ever-increas ing contribution to the accomplishment of our century's most challenging job. Over and above all else we shall find - you and I, individually that ours have become unconquerable souls. ED LIPSCOMB CLARENCE B. CARSON THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC 12 The Scourge of Inflation A theft of greater magnitude and still more ruinous, is the mak ing of paper money ,. it is greater because in this money there is ab solutely no real value,. it is more ruinous, because, by its gradual depreciation during all the time of its existence, it produces the effect which 'Would be produced by am infinity of successive deteriora tions of the coins. All these iniquri ties a,re founded on the false idea that money is but a sign.