November

THEFREE IDEAS ON LIBERTY 412 The Rise of Markets and the Fallof InfectiousDisease StephenGold One of the consequencesof greater freedomhas been greater freedomfrom disease. 416 The Dilemmaof LibraryCensorship E. CalvinBeisner If librariesare funded by governments,censorshipis unavoidable. 418 Does OccupationalLicensingProtect Consumers? John Hood Licensingprotects some suppliers;free markets protect consumers. 423 The Moral Foundation of WesternCulture Marty Mattocks How one man rediscoveredthe basisof libertyand civiliZation. 425 Can PoliticiansReallyCare? TiborR. Machan Those who govern"care" when they upholdjustice. 426 BankingWithoutthe "Too-Big-to-Fail"Doctrine RichardM. Salsman Onlyfree bankingis sound banking. 432 We, the People, and Our Deficit T. FranklinHarris,Jr. We, the people,love big government. 434 Half-Thuthsor Consequences Gary Galles Governmentgrowsbecausefallaciesare accepted.

436 Where Has All the SavingGone? Anthony M. Carilli Lord Keyneshas taken it away. 439 Memoirsof a SimpleHonorable Man CharlesH. Hamilton A tribute to John Chamberlain. 443 Book Reviews Unboundingthe Future:The NanotechnologyRevolutionby Eric Drexler and ChrisPeterson, reviewedby LawrencePerson;Impostorsin the Templeby Martin Anderson, reviewedby David M. Brown;Ecocidein the USSR by MurrayFeshbachand Alfred Friendly,Jr., reviewedby MatthewHoffman. CONTENTS NOVEMBER 1992 VOL. 42 NO.11 THEFREEMAN IDEASON LIBERTY Published by The Foundation for Economic Education Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533 President: Hans F. Sennholz Editor: John W. Robbins Senior Editor: Beth A. Hoffman Contributing Editors: Bettina Bien Greaves Edmund A. Opitz Editor Emeritus: Paul L. Poirot The Freeman is the monthly publication of The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., Irvington-o~-Hudson, NY 10533. FEE, established in 1946 by Leonard E. Read, is a nonpolitical educational champion of private property, the free market, and limited govern ment. FEE is classified as a 26 USC 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization. Other officers of FEE's Board of Trustees are: Gregg C.

MacDonald, chairman; W.A. Speakman, vice-chairman; Paul L. Poirot, secretary; Don L. Foote, treasurer. The costs of Foundation projects and services are met through donations. Donations are in vited in any amount. A trial subscription to The Freeman is available to any interested person in the United States for the asking. Additional copies of single issues are $2.00 each. For foreign delivery, a donation of $35.00 a year is required to cover direct mailing costs. Copyright © 1992 by The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. Permission is granted to reprint any article in this issue provided appropriate credit is given and two copies of the reprinted material are sent to The Foundation. Bound volumes of The Freeman are available for $15.00 each from The Foundation for calendar years 1971 to date. Earlier volumes as well as current issues are available on microfilm from University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.

The Freeman considers unsolicited editorial submissions, but they must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Our author's guide is available on request. Phone: (914) 591-7230 FAX: (914) 591-8910 Cover illustration: © Dover Books PERSPECTIVE My Brother'sKeeper The first murder in history was a fratricide. In malice and jealousy,the first son of Adam and Eve lured his younger brother into a field and slaugh tered him there. The crime was heinous, but Cain's defense has done more lasting damage. When God, knowing the answer quite well, asked Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" Cain lied, "I do not know." Then Cain asked a question that has been both misunderstood and misused by religious so cialistsfor centuries: "Am I my brother's keeper?" Religious socialists believe that every man is his brother's keeper, and that governments are insti tuted among men to guarantee them living wages, adequate housing, health care, education, recre ation, and a comfortable retirement. Furthermore, say the religious socialists, only the moral equiva lent of a murderer-the moral equivalent of Cain-would question these axioms.

But the religious socialists have misunderstood both Cain's defense and God's response. After he lied, Cain, not liking the direction in which the con versation was likely to go, tried to forestall further embarrassing questions by steering the conversa tion away from the matter of Abel's disappearance to Cain's lack of obligation to supervise his adult brother. God asked where Abel was. Cain denied that he knew and implied that he had no obligation to know: "Am I my brother's keeper?" It was not Cain's job to keep track of his adult brother. Cain wanted God to think that he was quite properly minding his own business. The religious socialistsfail to realize the shrewd ness of Cain's defense: Cain, like any man accused by a policeman or judge, put forth a defense that he believed the judge would accept. (Defendants do not put forth arguments they believe the judge will reject.) He asked the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" because he believed God would accept that defense. God, in fact, did not say Cain was Abel's keeper. He does not respond to the impertinent question at all.

But Cain's clever defense, however greatly it has befuddled generations of socialists, was wholly wasted on God. God knew that Cain had not been minding his own business, nor had Cain allowed Abel to mind his. Cain had murdered his brother, and now he sought to defend that murder by ap410 PERSPECTIVE (The Freeman thanks Representative O'Connor for her diligence in researching this issue;we intend to publish a study of the government takeover of the nonprofit sector in an upcoming issue of The Freeman.-Editor) I have enclosed my Pork Barrel Awards for 1990-91. I think you will be surprised to find that many "private" charitable groups take taxpayers' money. -MARGARET O'CONNOR State Representative, 52ndDistrict, Michigan JamesL. Paynereplies: Mrs. O'Connor is to be commended for spotting how the Habitat for Humanity chapters in Michi gan have departed from the organization's ideal. Each Habitat chapter signs a "Basic Covenant"

with Habitat for Humanity International to be come an approved affiliate. Clause #8 of this covenant runs as follows: Habitat is a Christian ministry that appeals to the stewardshipof Christiansand others of good willin the sharingoftheir resourceswiththe economically poor. Government funds will not be used. Howev er,·streets, utilities,land, or old houses needing re habilitation may be acquired from government agenciesifno stringsare attached that violateHabi tat principles. The chapters therefore seem to have violated their covenants. They certainly have violated the spirit of the covenant, since the money from the Michigan state department of commerce is taken involuntarily and is therefore no reflection of "stewardship. " Another point: The Covenant's clause #2 oe clares that Habitat is "avowedly Christian, seeking to exalt Jesus Christ as Lord by demonstrating His love to all people." So somebody is engaging in de ception. Either Habitat fund-seekers denied their Christian commitment, or Michigan officials are covering up giving taxpayer funds to "avowedly Christian" organizations. It sounds like the lawsuits are just around the corner. Hello, strings!

pealing to a principle-minding one's own busi ness-that was both true and irrelevant. Cain was not his brother's keeper; he had no obligation to su pervise Abel, but he did have an obligation not to murder him. God accused Cain directly of violating that obligation not to murder, and cursed him. Cain's deceptive and clever defense has done enormous harm to mankind; its effect on morals and politics has been continuing. Cain was both a murderer and a liar, but his misuse of a true princi ple in a futile attempt to justify murder has caused millions to err. -JOHN W. ROBBINS Readers'Forum Dear Editor: In your August 1992 edition of The Freeman, James Payne states that Habitatfor Humanityac ceptsno governmentfunds and relies on donations. I have always admired the group for that reason, so you can imagine my disappointment when I found that Habitat for Humanity does accept state government funds in Michigan and Community Block grants from the federal government.

Every year I put out a booklet of wasteful spend ing in the state of Michigan. In 1990-91the follow ing grants were awarded: Genessee County Habitat for HumanitylFlint $4,400 Purchase of property for 2 homes Habitat for Humanity of Isabella County/ Mt. Pleasant 11,000 Purchase a lot for construction of a home for low-income family Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity, Inc. 16,000 Purchase and renovate two homes for low-income families Habitat for Humanity of Isabella CountylMt. Pleasant Purchase a lot to relocate a two-story -house 28,000 Habitat for Humanity of Grand Rapids 6,000 Partial funding for construction of six housing units for low-income families Lake County Habitat for Humanity 44,000 Construction of 10 homes Roscommon County Habitat for Humanity 99,000 Housing acquisition and rehabilitation of five vacant single-family homes to be resold to low income families at low cost South Haven Area Habitat for Humanity House demolitionlhome construction Totalfor 1990-91 11,000 $219,400 411 THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY The Rise of Markets and the Fall of Infectious Disease by Stephen Gold M y grandmother was deaf, a fact I got used to early in life, but something to which she never fully adjusted. Born with the ability to hear, she lost it in her teens to scarlet fever. The fact that I was unfamiliar with this affliction was of no surprise-most of the serious illnesses my grandmother talked about were foreign to me. The free enterprise system had wiped them out before I was born.