The Great Objective of a Free People; F. Prochnow

The GreatObjective ofaFree People HERBERT V. PROCHNOW ONCE when I was visiting Asia, I received a cable from the Depart ment of State asking if I would speak to an audience of business and professional people in Cal cutta. This was· an unusual oppor tunity to speak on what private enterprise had meant to the Amer ican economy. With political lib erty and the incentives of private enterprise, our people have experi enced a remarkable improvement in their economic well-being. When I had finished speaking, a highly respected member of the audience arose and asked this question, "With the great eco nomic progress the United States has had, do you believe that the people of your country are any happier than they were before?" This seemingly innocent question was almost certainly intended to Dr. Prochnow is former President of the First National Bank of Chicago and Deputy Under Secretary of State.

338 destroy the merit of the entire philosophy which I had expressed. If people are no happier, why is economic progress important? If the people of India would be no happier with higher standards of living, what difference does in creased economic well-being make? For a moment I was not certain how to answer this question briefly and convincingly. I do not believe that happiness is the real measure of a nation's progress. However, I decided to· accept the test he had chosen. I was in a country with wide spread starvation and malnutri tion, a country in which the life span is far less than in the United States. I was in a country in which a large percentage of the people are illiterate. Within the bounda ries of that country, which is two fifths as large as the continental United States and has over 500 million people, there is widespread 1974 THE GREAT OBJECTIVE OF A FREE PEOPLE 339 poverty, starvation and illiteracy.

1 then said, ·"You and I can agree that man does not live by bread alone. However, a nation with sub.. stantial economic progress·· creates wealth,> and with wealth come grade, 'schools, .high schools, uni versities, and hospitals. With wealth and .economic pro gress come public utilities which supply electricity, gas, sanitation facili ties and pure drinking water." I then asked this member of the audience, "Do you think a father would be happier if he knew his children could have pure drinking water instead of their being ill repeatedly because of impure wa ter? Do you think parents would be happier if they knew their chil dren had schools and were not going to grow up illiterate.? Do you think men. and women would be happier if there were medical schools and. doctors and hospitals so that their life expectancy might be greatly increased? Do you think men and women would be happier if tens of millions did not suffer from malnutrition and starva tion?" I could have added, "Do you think that the people of this city would be happier if the thou sands who slept on the sidewalks last night because they have no homes could find at least modest places for shelter?"

I do not know whether the ques tioner found this answer helpful. However, I know that for the first time .. I saw more clearly what our people have sought to achieve with their economic progress. This js not, as the critics say, simply a money-grubbing .nation, a ~aw, materialistic, society. We make mistakes. We ,somE(times produce unwisely. We make pr<;>ducts at times that serve, little good. We consume some resources wasteful ly. But these are part of the price men and women in a society pay for freedom of choice. This is a small price to pay for such free dom. Human Dignity Affirmed I saw more .clearly what the en tire econ6micsystem is all about. 1 saw the meaning of a hundred million cars and trucks, tens of thousands of miles of railroads .and. pipelines, thousands of fac toriE*;, stores, farms, banks, office buildings, airports, and utilities. As we produce and save and invest, we give man food and shelter. We give him hospital~ for his health, and schools to free him from ig norance. We give him goods and services to improve his economic well-being. What we are really do ing is to reaffirm our deep faith in the dignity of man and in his worth as a human being. We re affirm that man was created by Providence.

In the humdrum of our daily ac340 THE FREEMAN June tivities, we sometimes fail to· rec ognize the spirituality of secular affairs. We are so involved in the day's work, in driving trueks,con structing buildings and highways, running freight trains, laying pipelines, operating computers, plowing fields, dictating letters, maintaining office records, and at tending meetings that we lose sight of the grea t objective of a society of free men and women. Reaffirming the dignity of man, his worth as a human being and as· a creature of Providence - this is the noble purpose for which we strive. This is the deep under lying purpose that runs through our· so ciety. This is the foundation of a nation's·greatness. ~ iDEAS ON LiBERTY The Price We Pay THE OFTEN NEGLECTED aspect of the good intentions of the wel fare state is the cost of all this subsidy and so-called security. Someone· has to pay, and it requires an ever-expanding police force just to collect the taxes. The creative and productive mem bers of society are the ones from whom the revenues of government have to be drawn; there is no other source of goods and services.

But to recklessly tax the fruits of a person's labor is a disservice to that person. To take away. the earnings. from a business is to leave it unprofitable and unattractive and to set it· up for another of the failures that the government will be importuned. to bail out. The higher the rate of taxation upon the most productive, the less their incentive to keep on producing at an extraordinary pace .. This is why growth becomes such an aggravating problem in the welfare state, and why it appears that government spend ing is the only way to achieve future growth and productivity. And this is why a welfare government can't stand to see any potential source of revenue leave the country for more attractive opportunities abroad. PAUL L, POIROT, "Why Capital Wants Out"