Neither Samaritan Nor Solomon
The old rationales for government control may have been discredited in the public mind. But they are alive in Washington, among the special interest groups, and among the media. In this speech, I identify the main ones: the State is a good Samaritan, is as wise as Solomon, practices the art of compromise, creates wealth, and educates us all in proper social values. The weapon against these myths is an alternative source of education. As Mises said, all of history is a battle of ideas. Where the ideas of freedom are triumphant, liberty prevails. Where the ideas of freedom are buried and suppressed, despotism prevails. FULL ARTICLE
Comments (19)
Great essay as usual Lew!
I had a recent discussion on a tech-security forum about pretty much the same issues. Otherwise intelligent people just have a problem imagining a world without governments.. Check it out:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/03/the_future_of_p.html
Published: March 8, 2006 8:43 AM
The best arguments in the best words, as always, except . . . those inflation percentages under different Fed chairmen don't mean much without reference to the lengths of TIME the chairmen were in office. It would be as simple and obvious as reducing the percentages to annual rates. That it wasn't done makes me wonder the more what they would look like if so refined.
Published: March 8, 2006 9:05 AM
Great points Lew but I would question the opening stats a bit.
I work for a major defence (oops I mean areospace)contractor and it is a 'best & brightest'company by intention. It recruits heavily at the top schools and gets a lot of the grads just by virtue of it NE Mass locations. I worked in leading edge telecom before and met maybe two dozen PhDs. There are that many in cubes a stones throw from mine now (BTW all the PhDs at AT&T and Tyco had offices, not cubes). Granted this is high tech development work so advanced degress come with the territory, but it is evident that Ray...er ah my current employer places more emphsis on degrees than either of my previous ones for what is really no more challenging work.
My point being that I would say many more talented folks actually work for the gubmint than the stats you cited indicate.
Rob
Published: March 8, 2006 10:03 AM
Shouldn't the American Society have goals and listed under a banner of Advancing Civilization, with measurable limits and markers? "Welfare" and "Warfare" are meaningless terms, or have so many meanings, the terms are without measureable goals, or would be scary, if spelled out.
Our foreign policy would be harmonious with the Advance of Civilization. It seems to me that China, India, Iran, Venizuela, and many others with whom we share this universe, have a long way to go in the advance of Civilization.
Published: March 8, 2006 10:25 AM
Buck, I think one major point is that civilization cannot be advanced by force.
It's easy to talk about "rebuilding to be better than it was", but that completely ignores the cost of lives, liberty and property that was destroyed first, then the loss of more liberty and property to do the rebuilding, and make sure to add the loss of liberty after the rebuilding since the place rebuilt was done to the victors satisfaction, not those it was rebuilt for.
The sole "productive" way to advance civilization is commerce. Not "East India Company" gunboat style, just simple voluntary interaction. It's in my interest that you be wealthy enough to buy my product, it is in your interest that I be wealthy enough to buy yours.
Published: March 8, 2006 1:57 PM
Ted, I've added my own touch to Schneier's blog.
"My point being that I would say many more talented folks actually work for the gummint than the stats you cited indicate."
It is not how smart you are, but what you can do with your intelligence, otherwise we'd have more faith in IQ tests. The fact that the gummit has intelligent people working for it's own non-productive purpose (not consumer demanded), means that these productive people are not contributing to the private sector. The taxpayer essentially picks up the tab for extracting smart people (hence, high cost) from the private industries where they can exert their creative skills in supplying goods and services that the taxpayers can enjoy.
BTW, I work for a small private military defense contractor - so I feel guily as well.
Published: March 8, 2006 2:29 PM
Buck and Curt: One of the simmering ideas in my mind is that if 'civilization' is a product of man, human life would be much more deplorable than it currently is; I may hesitatingly venture too that we would even possibly die out. I am leaning towards the idea that civilization is a product of influences far greater than those of man. My idea here has not come out as it should because I am still trying to find a precise definition of the word 'civilisation'. Thanks
Published: March 8, 2006 3:03 PM
One of the simmering ideas in my mind is that if 'civilization' is a product of man, human life would be much more deplorable than it currently is; I may hesitatingly venture too that we would even possibly die out.
Please don't project. It's unbecoming.
Published: March 8, 2006 6:37 PM
Hey, we can even accelerate the dying by having a monopoly space agency, virus-wishing environmentalists, and an international treaty to ban private property outside earth!
I can rest easily knowing that some humans clamor for that kind of fate.
Published: March 8, 2006 8:19 PM
@quincunx
Thanks for coming to the schneier blog - nice effort! I went through your arguments and the replies you got and its the same conclusion again. Otherwise intelligent people just cannot imagine life without government... In the end they admit their arguments cannot match yours and then hop in the mantra again.
Published: March 9, 2006 12:36 AM
Lew would love this modern version of the Good Samaritan
Published: March 9, 2006 1:08 AM
I concur with Curt Howland that "civilization cannot be advanced by force." Yet when he writes 'The SOLE productive way to advance civilization is commerce' I would add (as Lew quoted) "all of history is a battle of ideas. Where the ideas of freedom are triumphant, liberty prevails." Consequently, advancing civilization includes the development & promulgation of ideas. Isn't this what we are striving for in this blog?
Munyemesha says he is trying to find a precise definition of the word 'civilisation'. My view is that “Civilization� is the organization of society around a transcendent ideal, so as to uplift man while restraining barbarism. (Herein “Culture� is defined as building the aspirations for man’s perfection, while “Government� is the structure for restraining aggression.)
I concur with him that "civilization is a product of influences far greater than those of man" in the sense that man has been fashioned by needs and purposes that exceed his comprehension. Thus man has a priori insights, which he inherited rather than devised.
Published: March 9, 2006 8:48 AM
Allen, certainly "commerce" isn't just money and goods, it's also ideas and culture. My consumption of Japanese "anime", for instance, teaches me much about what is (and isn't) going on in the minds of Japanese people. It has been suggested that one of the reasons for the failure of internal support for the USSR, a primary cause of its relatively bloodless downfall, was American TV.
Soviet citizens would see _Falcon Crest_ and _Dallas_, and see such wealth. They saw grocery stores full of food in even the most pessimistic of programs, and compared them to their own.
The major media of every country is heavily influenced by its government and preconceptions. What would happen if a majority of Americans were able to view the UK documentary _The Power Of Nightmares_, for instance, and learn that the entire "war on terror" is not just a fraud, it's a deliberate fraud?
Published: March 9, 2006 10:56 AM
" It has been suggested that one of the reasons for the failure of internal support for the USSR, a primary cause of its relatively bloodless downfall, was American TV."
Indeed, I can attest to this with anecdotal evidence. My family moved out of the soviet union just before the fall (1989), my father was a big consumer of western culture (especially action flicks, and hard rock) - and has been a life long entrepreneur in a socialist state (not very rewarding). We had a large library of western films and music. He complains now that the socialist state he left is now coming over here.
Published: March 9, 2006 1:56 PM
To my comment that "advancing civilization includes the development & promulgation of ideas" Curt Howland responds that "commerce isn't just money and goods, it's also ideas and culture." Here he gives examples of how American TV brings ideas to other nations, such as by showing grocery stores full of food.
That is true enough, but it implies that commerce covers the area of ideas, whereas what is of primary importance are such ideas as the inalienable rights of the individual, natural law, and the non-initiation of force. Can we say that this is conveyed by the activity of commerce?
Currently America downplays the role of the free market, and gives the impression that our prosperity is due to regulations and government intervention. Thus foreigners can accept our commerce, and attribute our wealth to impediments to the free market.
Published: March 10, 2006 11:27 AM
Allen, "whereas what is of primary importance are such ideas as the inalienable rights of the individual, natural law, and the non-initiation of force. Can we say that this is conveyed by the activity of commerce?"
Have you seen the movie _Serenity_? Or _Star Wars_? How about the "Non Interference Directive" of _Star Trek_? _Death Wish_? _The Bourne Identity_? _Braveheart_? Did you ever read a book that contained such ideas as you describe?
If so, then you have seen such ideas promulgated by for-profit media. Raw, unbridled capitalism and commerce.
I have some opinions as to why Hollywood doesn't do more of the individual David against the state Goliath, because it is the greatest of stories which resonates with all peoples in all times, but that is for another topic.
Published: March 10, 2006 12:08 PM
Currently America downplays the role of the free market, and gives the impression that our prosperity is due to regulations and government intervention. Thus foreigners can accept our commerce, and attribute our wealth to impediments to the free market.
It depends on whose wealth you are speaking of. The economy in the United States is NOT a free market. A free market does not exist anywhere in the world. Many wealthy individuals and their respective corporations have become rich BECAUSE OF government interfernce in the economy. Every intervention has its winners and losers.
I think that when discussing the idea of a truly free market society and its functionning, it cannot be emphasized enough that the current system is nowhere close to a free market. The current system of corporatism and economic fascism has simply hijacked the terminology and rheotric of laissez-faire and used it to its own advantages.
I think that many people recognize that something is bad about the current economic system, but then they hear it defended with terms such as 'free market', 'capitalism', etc. Thus you get a vast number of people who identify the current system as a 'free market' and turn to anti-market systems as the only apparent alternatives.
Published: March 10, 2006 3:08 PM
In response to my claim that ideas of primary importance are not conveyed by the category of ‘commerce’, Curt Howland includes as ‘commerce’ films and books. Thus he might well have given as examples “The Fountainhead� and “Human Action�. If by ‘commerce’ he includes all that is contained in the category of ‘ideas’, he is correct by definition. Let us note that if Curt defines the term ‘food’ to include (the food of) ideas, he has similarly proven his original point that 'The SOLE productive way to advance civilization is by transmitting food.’
To my view that foreigners “can accept our commerce, and attribute our wealth to impediments to the free market� Brian Drum points out that the United States does NOT have a free market. This issue has been discussed by von Mises, who views our economy as essentially free, and not socialist. Thus the pricing mechanism is due to free exchange rather than government decree. However, whether one argues that we are 10% free or 90% free is not at issue, but *what explains the creation of wealth in America*. Does Brian maintain that this wealth is a consequence of government intervention?
Published: March 11, 2006 7:19 AM
I love the entire breakdown of Leviathan into five elements (almost like the five pillars of Islam) because it helps us concentrate on what to do. I think if we concentrate on knocking out pillars four and five, by getting back to a hard money standard and by getting the state out of education, we'll really be on the way to creating a free society. First, stop the state growing by anchoring its spending in gold-based reality. And then let the free minds of the freely educated start tearing down the monolith, block by block.
Published: March 16, 2006 3:44 PM