What is Freedom? G. Cahill

Okay, so iffreedom is a person, what would he or she be like? Freedom would be delicate--easily bruised. Freedom would be fragile-easily destroyed. Freedom would be elusive--easily lost. Freedom would be demanding-hard to serve. That, then, may give you some inkling of what freedom is like. 176 WHAT IS FREEDOM? 177 Let's draw out our exampl(~ a little further. If freedom is a person, who are his or her friends and admirers? Perhaps the poet John Milton put it best. He wrote: ttNone can love freedom heartily but good men." When we are good, FreedoDl will be strong. When we are self-disciplined, Freedom will be durable. When we are resourceful, Freedom will be resilient. When we are courageous, Freedom will be sturdy. In short, we determine what Freedom shall be like. Every time we cheat, deceive, falsify, or choose that which is not moral, we put down Freedom. And every time we do something right, honest, moral, decent, positive and uplifting, we make Freedom a little stronger and more secure.

That's quite a responsibility, isn't it? To our credit, we have chosen to shoulder that responsibility for more than 200 years. The question is: are you willing to do the same? i The foregoing is one of 60 inspirational messages assembled by Mr. Cahill in a 96-page bool<let-BIG IDEAS-messages on individual responsibility that parents, grandparents, and all leaders might use to present positive principles to young people. The book, BIG IDEAS, at $2.00 a copy, may be ordered directly from: The" Pride in America" Company 103 Loire Valley Drive Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15209 IT is commonly held that the un planned «anarchic" nature of capi talist production necessitates bu reaucratic regulation to prevent economic chaos. Thus the prominent Hungarian Marxist, Andras Hegedus, argues that bureaucracy is merely «the byproduct of an ad ministrative structure" that sepa rates the workers from the actual management of the economy. Since the owners make the decisions, all others must ultimately take their orders from this small group. Since that would be impracticable in an industrial economy, the problem must be handled by a division of responsibility which in tum entails layers of bureaucracy. The capital ists make the decisions which are then filtered down the bureaucratic Dr. Osterfeld Is Assistant Professor of Political Sel ence, Saint Joseph's College, Rensselaer, Indiana.