The Blessings of Diversity; L.E. Read

So, let's make the case for di versity. The first part of the case is easy. Were everyone alike, would we be all men - or all women? There wouldn't even be an Adam and Eve situation, only an uninhabited Eden! Suppose all of us were identical in food preference to those who eat nothing but fish. The fish supply would diminish to the point that all would starve or die fishing. A moment's reflec tion reveals the nonsense of be like-me-ness as related to the strictly physical aspects of our lives - even were all identical to thee or me. I t is when we move from func tions of the body to those of the mind that the case for diversity most needs to be examined. Peo-· pIe, by and large, seem instinc tively to resist the idea of divers ity in thinking. Why do not others think and believe as you or I do? Had a person of my convictions lived in Athens twenty-three cen turies ago, his disagreement with Plato's concept of a philosopher king surely would have disturbed the great thinker, even as you and I tend to be disturbed by those who do not see eye to eye with us.

The philosopher-king idea as sumes an overlord - absolute rulership - someone who will di rect what millions of citizens shall do and how they shall behave. Thinking for self is precluded; the king will do that for us. Until recent times, kingship czar, der Fuhrer, the Mikado, a ruler by whatever label - was gen erally accepted as the only alterna tive to societal chaos. There had to be a ruler - despite the miser able record - or society would col lapse. Why the failures? Plato's im plication is that power hitherto had not been united ·to wisdom in one man. Obviously, kingship is 295 296 THE FREEMAN May not to be trusted to power-crazed shallowpates. Plato's solution? Let only philosophers be kings! Then all of a nation's citizens would be blessed, being the bene ficiaries of the king's wisdom. Which Philosopher Should Have Control? Now, just who is it that quali fies as a philosopher? How desig nated? There are two ways. First is self-designation. Though not aspiring to kingship, Plato no doubt thought of himself as a philosopher. Look around at our contemporaries. Observe the countless thousands, none of whom doubts his own wisdom; each in his judgment the perfect philos opher. And fit for kingship!

The second way to be labeled a philosopher is by popular designa tion. Reflect on those thus ac claimed, ranging from Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Maimonides, Ma chiavelli, Marx, Berdyaev, to sev eral of our time. Go over the list - some 400 - read of their ideas and find one competent to rule our lives. 1 Not one remotely qualifies. No such individual ever existed or ever will. And the genuine phi losopher, at least of our time, would shun rule, even if it were offered! 1 See The Treasury of Philosophy, ed ited by Dagobert D. Runes (New York: The Philosophical Library, Inc., 1955). Granted, each of these philos ophers was in search of truth. Their findings? No two the same! One came upon an idea here, an other there; now and then a bit of truth, occasionally an out-and out error, such as Plato's philos opher-king or Marx's "from each according to ability, to each ac cording to need." The worst that could befall mankind would be to give anyone philosopher the power to impose his limited vision on everyone else - including other philosophers. Each of us should stri ve to live by such wisdom as he can glean, while working to expand his vision. But there is no short cut to the attainment of this objective.

When one first reflects on the blessings of diversity in thinking, he might want to make an excep tion: should not the devotees of liberty look askance at anti-free dom thinking? Of what possible help are Marx and Engels and the countless other opponents? My answer: They are an absolute nec essity to the furtherance of our ideal, to the attainment of our aspirations. Bluntly, there is no way to go uphill expect as there be hills to climb. In other words, we have no chance of moving toward or perfecting the freedom way of life short of obstacles to overcome - now and forever! It is in the discernment of error that 1974 THE BLESSINGS OF DIVERSITY 297 truth comes to light. The art of becoming is composed of acts of overcoming. Let us suppose that no one to day knows any more about the freedom philosophy than I knew some forty years ago. Heaven for bid! What jolted me awake? Not someone agreeing with me; it was the system of wage, price and ex change controls - the National In dustrial Recovery Act. This was not exactly the philosopher-king, but almost as bad: the politician bureaucrat. Knowing that to be wrong, I had to explore, look for, try to discover what is right. The wrong gave me a toehold, as we say; it served as a stimulant, a springboard. But for NIRA or some similar wrong, I might well have remained ideologically disin terested. So, was not the NIRA a blessing of diversity?

Nearly everyone can recall sim ilar experiences, his thought proc esses stimulated by one or two wrongs. But how easy it is to be lieve that a few leaps upward in learning suffice. A momentary awakening and then falling to sleep again ! Worse than falling asleep, however, is to harbor the illusion of journey's end, the thought that one's job is done. During the past four decades, since shocked into awareness by NIRA, I have reacted to every anti-freedom notion that has come to my attention. This has been my "magnificent obsession." The re ward? In all modesty, I am far better informed about such mat ters than I was some forty years ago. Yet, the road looms ahead, and I have much further to go. To highlight the danger of stag nation, let it be assumed that I understand far more than I now do - that I have become better than anyone else! Arrival? Indeed not; whatever the stage, it is only the beginning. However far one travels from his beginning in ig norance, it is but a start toward the infinite unknown.

Hold the fantasy for a moment: that I have become better than all others. Then assume that the thoughts of everyone were identi cal to mine. A better world? No! Such would spell the end of hu man evolution or emergence mankind in a state of stagnation. To seek Truth is to pursue the Infinite. The more one advances, the further into the distance stretches the road ahead. The more one knows, the more he knows there is to know. Human freedom is an aspira tion, never to be perfectly achieved but, at best, only to be more closely approximated. Have no fear of diverse ideas. Welcome them! They are blessings, perhaps in disguise, but steppingstones, none theless. ® Competition: BERNARD H. SIEGAN REZONING to permit the construc tion of a maj or regional shopping center has been requested for a large tract of land located about fifteen minutes from where I live, and some of my neighbors are up set and the usual maneuvering and protesting are taking place. Some local officials have expressed op position because the new shopping center, by creating additional com petition, will diminish the profits of existing businesses within the city. It has even been suggested that merchants make a mass pro test against the proposed center.