The Irony of Eternal Vigilance; R. Foley, Jr.

RidgwayK. Foley, Jr. THE IRONYOF ETERNALVIGILANCE COMMON political folklore advises citizens mulcted by the persistent mirror evils of entitlement and reg ulation to "become involved in the governmental process in order to hold your own" and thus maintain their lives, liberties, and properties against the ravages of the avaricious state and its propelling plunderers. I pro test: no one should be compelled to take up cudgels to defend and pro tect his God-granted rights against onslaughts perpetrated by envious, greedy, power-seeking panjan drums. Each person should enjoy a sanctuary devoid of unwanted in trusion by the state or its minions. Those who offer the well-meaning advice concerning political involve ment recognize but a single facet of reality: The dynamics of modern Mr. Foley, a partner in Schwabe, Williamson, Wyatt, Moore & Roberts, practices law in Portland, Oregon. pressure-group politics result in a cacophony of quests for unearned largess and control over the destiny of others. A multitude of special in terest conglomerates secure enact ment and enforcement of rules and orders designed to employ the coer cive force of the state to the end of self-betterment at the expense of other, less influential or well-orga nized, individuals. The exhortative activists suggest like action: Use special interest activity to combat the existing wicked ambiance permeat ing the halls of government. Thus witness the formation of taxpayer unions, public interest law firms, and freedom lobbies crafted to promote "free enterprise," a balanced budget, judicial restraint and a whole host of superficially laudable notions.

Unfortunately, such conduct over looks the shopworn but honest ad729 730 THE FREEMAN December age that those who cannot read his tory are damned to relive it. Almost three thousand years ago, the Psalmist David warned us to "put not your trust in Princes, nor in the son of man in whom there is no help." Lobbyists, legislators, and jurors represent the current crop of "princes," and the "son of man" equates with those sinister individ ual and aggregate attempts to coerce compliance with niggling norms motivated to limit creativity and to restrain the enhanced moral life. Simply put, one who adheres to the admonition to achieve political in volvement will receive disappoint ment, not absolution; such persons who trust princes and serfs will find the proposed solution wanting. Eternal Vigilance Since we have been alerted by John Philpot Curran that eternal vigi lance constitutes the price of free dom, it appears appropriate to in vestigate the reasons that deny efficacy to such a proposal for a po litical solution. A several-fold ratio nale divides into two categories of justification undergirding the con clusion.

In the first place, political activity (even that formed for high purpose) will not prove competent to achieve the desired result. In the instant case, counselors recommend the forma tion of political action groups to en courage proper governmental stands upon such causes as the liberation of business from the bonds of con straint' the inculcation of fairness and restraint into the system of tax ation, the limitation of expensive entitlement or transfer payment programs and the like. They cham pion such tactics as flooding Con gress and the President with peti tions, raising funds to elect compliant legislators or to defeat recalcitrant ones, employing proctors to adjudi cate the legality of governmental behavior, and similar deportment. Such efforts will prove unfruitful for two simple, cogent and related reasons: (a) The doctrines of regula tion and entitlement, with their ap peal to mankind's malevolent side, always appear more desirable and harmonious than the path of right; and (b) the purveyors and seekers after booty can and will always out vote and politically overwhelm the remnant who merely wish to be left alone, never once pausing to con template Ayn Rand's seminal ques tion of "who will the looters loot when the victims are vanquished?"

In the second place, it is morally repugnant to enlist force to achieve the ends of liberty. Coercion begets coercion, restraint begets restraint. As Leonard Read was fond of noting, "the bloom pre-exists in the seed, the ends pre-exist in the means." Politi cal action-however properly con ceived-still consists of the applica tion of legal constraint upon creative 1983 THE IRONY OF ETERNAL VIGILANCE 731 human endeavor. Given the dark side of mankind, well-intentioned con duct invoking governmental action naturally deteriorates into coercive conduct resulting in the deprivation of human freedom. Treatment thus aimed at saving voluntary action soon succumbs to the disease sought to be cured. Furthermore, contemplation of the ineffectiveness of political counter action ignores the fundamental wrong: An unwilling individual ought not be drummed into the ser vice of the freedom fight against his will. Justification of such an enlist ment operates on the same premise as "might makes right." Consider the basic proposition: "A" lives an up right life, never treading upon an other's freedom, always producing and trading desirable goods, ser vices, and ideas in a market; by what moral principle should "A" be com pelled to expend his share of his rightful acquisitions in thwarting legalized theft?

One may deduce a quintessential duty to join the community defense against outlaws, but one may not Raise a Standard distend the principle to compel such an obligation against brigands who use the law for wrongful purposes. Those who exhort common political activity essentially contend that a person who lives decently and prop erly should nevertheless engage in distasteful activity at his own ex pense to prevent illegality by the very state which is supposed to act as the eternal policeman for the citizenry. On What to Do One inquiry remains: What course of conduct should be followed by one who eschews political behavior yet aspires to freedom? An answer re quires the height of presumptuous ness, for no actor can effectively di rect another in this type of endeavor. Suggestions, not commands, follow. Refuse to recognize impolitic poli tics. Resist tyranny in all forms by every peaceful means and by adher ence to ethical principle. Recognize and avoid coercion and rebuke those who apply it to your life. Read, write, discourse, listen and learn the ele mental postulates of truth and live by them always. Reveal your light to those who wish to see. i) IDEAS ON LIBERTY IF to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God.

AITRIBUTED TO GEORGE WASHINGTON William H. Peterson KICKA BUSINESSMAN TODAY THE BEAT GOES oN-i.e. the daily beat-up of the businessman on the Boob Tube. Not physically but psy chically: in the perception of the businessman and the role he plays in our society. Scheming oilman J. R. Ewing of "Dallas" is the prototype. Recently three George Washington Univer sity researchers-Linda Lichter, S. Robert Lichter and Stanley Roth man-spent eight weeks in front of the Tube and reported their findings in Public Opinion. They identified 226 fictionalized business men and women in Televisionland. A lop sided 60 per cent of them, they found, were Bad Guys-and of these, one out of three (or 21 per cent of the total) was an out-and-out criminal. Worse, this criminality stemmed not so much from character failings, Dr. Peterson, who was chief economist for U.S. Steel, is director of the Center for Economic Education and the Scott L. Probasco Jr. Professor of Free Enterprise at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.