===== PAGE 1 ===== ~ IDEAS ON LIBERTY AUGUST 1959 Pernicious Unemployment . . . . . . Frank Chodorov 3 Government in the Housing Business . . Emerson P. Schmidt 8 The Great Job-Killer «. «+ « +. « . . H. P.B. Jenkins 13 Some Animals Are Always More Equal . . Williom Henry Chamberlin 14 He Who Tends the Tree. . . . . . . Ann Terrill 21 “Third Party’ Medicine . . . . . . Jamesl Doenges 27 Naive Nervousness . . . . . . . . LleonardE. Read 32 Steps to Learning . . . . . . . . Robertlefevre 40 Was Karl Marx Right? . . . . . . . Francis E. Mahaffy 43 Capital and Interest. . . . . . . . Ludwig von Mises 52 Victims of Statistical lllusion . . . . . John Chamberlain 55 Other Books . . . . . . . . . . 58 fy THE FOUNDATION FLE FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION, INC. Irvington-on-Hudson, New York ===== PAGE 2 ===== ry] oy POWER" ADDS TO YOUR One of the most unnecessary gov- What’s more, all this spending is ernment spending programs you unnecessary. 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SLO ii i pai A EK Fa Lp hice = (A 8 red) . fi iis IISAEs PERNICIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT FRANK CHODOROV IT WAS AN “ACCIDENT.” The young to pay, the loss of income would be couple had decided not to start slight. Indeed, taking into account raising a family until they had the saving in carfare and lunches, paid off some of the debts incurred plus the wear and tear on her in setting up housekeeping and clothes, she might be better off. had acquired other things so much No, the expectant mother was more necessary than children. But not destitute. When we read in the nature had decreed otherwise, and papers that some four million the lady was obliged to give up her Americans are unemployed, the $70-a-week secretaryship. picture in our mind’s eye is one of The inconvenience was consider- widespread destitution, of what able; she would have to forego used to be known as “hard times.” that spring outfit she had set her We equate the word ‘‘unemploy- heart on, but there were mitigat- ment” with dire want, of children ing circumstances. The husband going hungry, of women making had a good job. In addition, by old flour bags do for clothes, and registering herself as unemployed, so on. And we lend a ready ear to she could draw $36.00 a week for the heart-wringing speeches of 26 weeks at the unemployment “in- the politician bent on “doing some- surance’ office (New York State). thing about it.” Considering that she would have no state and federal income, social Looking Behind the Facts security, and unemployment taxes Let’s examine how the govern- — ment’s figures are arrived at and practitioner of individuaham. The Rive and question the facts behind them. Fall of Society (Devin Adair) is his latest book-length treatment of the subject. How many of the unemployed real- 3 ===== PAGE 6 ===== 4 THE FREEMAN August ly want work, work of any kind that reason the number of em- that may be available? How many ployables increases during the are voluntarily unemployed? How summer vacation and diminishes many are “in between” jobs, and when school opens. therefore not available for any This is not to find fault with the other work that may be needed? Department’s way of computing its Are they the only breadwinners in figures on unemployment; they do the family, and is their unemploy- the best they can with a problem ment reflected in a diminished table compounded of many variables, not fare? Did they, during their em- excluding psychology. Obviously, ployment, set up a reserve for just the Department cannot make a such a contingency? The govern- nose-count of the nation’s unem- ment’s figures do not answer these ployed every week but must rely questions. on a sampling process. The unit of Here and there a case of real computation is derived from the hardship results from unemploy- data brought in by interviewers ment, and this is to be regretted, who visit 35,000 selected house- of course. Also to be regretted is holds and rooming houses, cover- the fact that the unemployed work- ing 330 sample areas, distributed er does not add to the nation’s among 636 counties and independ- fund of wealth. But, on the whole, ent cities. Every month the sample are conditions quite as bad as the areas are changed. The data thus picture often read into the unem- obtained is checked against the ployment figures? last census figures, adjusted for what is termed “standard error” Officially “Unemployed” and an estimate of seasonal A person is unemployed, ac- changes in employment. As sam- cording to the Department of La- pling goes, this can be considered bor, if during the week of investi- reasonably reliable. It is probably gation he is laid off temporarily far more reliable than the unem- because of bad weather, seasonal ployment figures published by the changes, illness; also, if he is on unions, which are always higher strike or otherwise chooses not to than those of the Department. work. Any boy or girl over four- However, the basic data for the teen, and not in school, is unem- computation is the information ployed, if so reported, because at furnished by interviewees. The that age one automatically becomes questions they are asked are stand- a member of the “labor force,” ac- ardized and cannot take into ac- cording to the Department; for count their attitudes. A proud man ===== PAGE 7 ===== 1959 PERNICIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT 5 may resent being called unem- those who qualify as unemployed ployed, in the firm belief that his under it are not necessarily desti- superior abilities will shortly be tute or even seriously inconven- called for. The confirmed malin- ienced by their condition. gerer, on the other hand, will re- port himself looking for a job “Help Wanted” Ads while in fact he is thoroughly en- That the unemployment figures joying his vacation. Another will do not mirror a condition of want insist that he is looking for work is emphasized by the number of even though he regularly turns “help wanted” advertisements that down opportunities which he deems were run during the time the De- inconsistent with his ability or his partment was reporting 4.3 million station in life, or which pay less unemployed. On one Sunday dur- than he thinks he is worth; he can ing that month (March 1959) the wait until the right thing comes New York Times carried fourteen along. The interviewers, though pages (nine columns to the page) they are trained for the job, are of classified “help wanted — male” unable to prod into such fields, advertisements, five pages of “help partly because they are confined wanted — female.” In addition, two to the questionnaire and partly be- full pages were devoted to agency cause they work on a tight sched- advertisements, and every agency ule. (there were over a hundred of An unemployed person, as de- them) was looking for a number fined by the Department, is one of applicants. Almost every kind who “did not work at all (at least and degree of skill was in demand: fifteen hours) during the week of clerks, glass blowers, plumbers, survey and who was looking for a foremen, gardeners, high school job.” This includes those who are graduates, frame makers, life temporarily laid off and are wait- guards, gasket cutters, everything. ing to be recalled, or who are Eleven additional pages carried scheduled to report to a new job display advertisements pleading in thirty days, or who are ill or be- for applicants who could qualify lieve there are no jobs of the kind for scientific and managerial posi- they are fitted to fill. The phrase tions. “looking for work” is quite inde- All this space costs money, a lot terminate, depending on the judg- of it, and it is obvious that would- ment of the interviewee. The defi- be employers would not be spend- nition is perhaps as exact as can ing it if the unemployed were be devised, but the point is that knocking at their doors. And while ===== PAGE 8 ===== 6 THE FREEMAN August it is true that most of the jobs of- ing the barn, removing an accumu- fered called for some degree of lation of furniture or books, a skill, and some knowledge, the fact thousand and one things that have is that janitors and file clerks are to be done — is next to impossible, needed where engineers are at even at $2.00 an hour. Evidently work. the unemployed can afford to be In the same issue of the New ‘“choosey.” York Times, as against the 32 pages carrying “help wanted” ad- Bailing Out Union Bosses vertisements, only 2 pages were So, what is the substance behind devoted to “situations wanted” no- all this clamor for “relief for the tices, and nearly half of these were unemployed”? Among the most placed by household workers. vociferous clamorers are the labor The evidence that unemployment union leaders, and in their case is not the problem it is supposed the purpose is quite clear: hand- to be is supported by the newspa- outs to the unemployed both re- pers of Detroit, a city held up as duce the competitive pressure on a horrible example. On the same their employed members and help Sunday, the Detroit News ran 6 to support strikers at the expense pages of “help wanted” as against of the taxpayers. Unemployment only 3 columns of “situations payments constitute a supplemen- wanted” advertisements. The other tary “war chest” for the unions. two Detroit newspapers carried no With the politician on the make, notices from job-seekers, but did “relief” is a potent vote-buying run a full page each of job open- device. The idea that tax-reduc- ings. It would seem from this evi- tion would lead to investments and dence that the unemployed num- to job opportunities and thus in- bers of the U.A.W. are not too dis- crease purchasing power is a bit contented with their condition. too farfetched for his immediate The experience of the house- purpose. On the other hand, the holder or small businessman look- socialistic mentality of the union ing for temporary help supports leader cannot embrace the fact the conclusion that unemployment that increased wages, without re- during the last year was not syn- gard for the supply and demand onymous with want. Getting some- conditions of the market, has the one to help with the chores around effect of pricing labor out of jobs, the house or store — fixing a drain of creating unemployment. pipe, cleaning out the attic, put- To be sure, involuntary unem- ting in a few panes of glass, paint- ployment and consequent hardship ===== PAGE 9 ===== 1959 PERNICIOUS UNEMPLOYMENT 7 cannot be ruled out of the national (1) by removing the sting from picture. The coal miners in West unemployment and helping work- Virginia afford a case in point. ers remove themselves from com- The situation here (and in other petition, and (2) by increased “distressed areas”) is that the taxeswhich add to production costs consumer refuses to pay the cost and diminish job opportunities. of marginal production and has Take the case of the expectant turned to less expensive sources mother cited above. Under the of supply: to cheaper coal, to oil, present New York state law, when to natural gas. But “relief” does her new-born babe is four or five not solve the situation, and Con- months old and she is able to ar- gress certainly cannot put a nice, range for its rearing, she can go new, rich vein of ore into these back to work for 20 weeks and thus marginal mines. In former times, qualify for 26 more weeks of un- when job opportunities became employment pay. scarce for one reason or another, Incidentally, she may enjoy her workers loaded themselves into accouchement in Florida if she transatlantic ships or covered wishes. Under a reciprocal ar- wagons and went to where job op- rangement, the Florida unemploy- portunities were more plentiful; ment office can act as an agent for thus, they not only earned for New Yorkers residing in its terri- themselves a competence but also tory. The Florida authorities do built a great nation. Granted that not bother to offer the New York this escape from poverty is diffi- unemployed job opportunities be- cult, the best that can be done for cause Florida employers do not “depressed areas’ is to move the hire them. inhabitants, if they are not able to One of the bills now before Con- move themselves, to where their gress proposes to make unemploy- skills are in demand. Industrial- ment “insurance” available for 39 ists would do just that if there weeks, in all states, the amount of were no government unemploy- the handouts to be increased to ment compensation or relief and one-half of the average pay earned if the unions permitted it. by the worker during the three months of the preceding year when Handouts Aggravate the Problem he earned the most. Were that en- On the other hand, the schemes acted, our housewife might be being advocated — more handouts listed as “unemployed” by the De- for longer periods — cannot solve partment of Labor most of the the problem. They aggravate it year. * os oo ===== PAGE 10 ===== A look at the consequences of AGOVEBRNMIENT : MN TOUSING BUSINESS | ~ ~r— EMERSON P. SCHMIDT My name is Emerson P. Currency, the entire Congress as Schmidt, Director of Economic Re- well as hundreds, perhaps thou- search of the Chamber of Com- sands, of witnesses and industry merce of the United States. I am people over the last 25 years have here on request to discuss the spent an enormous amount of time questions submitted to me by the and energy and money considering Subcommittee: and discussing housing, housing “What are the prospects for an legislation, financing, and related adequate supply of residential con- problems. Had all this legislative struction labor during the period activity not taken place, would our 1961-70? To what extent will the citizens be less well housed today, per unit labor costs increase or de- or would they be better housed? crease the per unit cost of housing Would unit housing costs be higher during the period 1961-70? How or lower? should federal programs be sup- The answers to these basic ques- plemented or modified to improve tions are not obvious. Yet, to a prospects for an adequate supply?” nonexpert, they would seem to be An unraised question occurred important. to me: Why has our national gov- For example, let us take a look ernment become so deeply and at the accompanying table which heavily involved in the people’s may help us to consider one of housing? This Subcommittee, the these basic questions. Senate Committee on Banking and The table contrasts nonfarm housing starts in two prosperous This article is condensed from Dr. Schmidt's years in the mid-1920's and two testimony of May 19, 1959 before the Sub. prosperous years in the mid- committoo on Housing of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee. 1950’s. The figures show that 36 8 ===== PAGE 11 ===== 1959 GOVERNMENT IN THE HOUSING BUSINESS 9 years ago, without government in- the Subcommittee members should tervention, we had over 5 new non- ask themselves whether the proper farm housing starts per $1,000,000 next steps should be in the direc- of GNP (in constant 1954 prices), tion of more and more government "as against only about 3 housing intervention, or, rather, a move in starts in the mid-1950’s. Housing the opposite direction. If the starts in the mid-1920’s per thou- figures are relevant and reasonably sand population were moderately representative, they suggest that higher than in the mid-1950s. this Subcommittee and the Con- Offhand, this unfavorable show- gress have been needlessly wor- ing for the government interven- ried and concerned with the tionist period causes one to wonder American people's housing prob- whether all this congressional con- lems. The fact that housing is a cern for housing was justified in basic human need does not neces- the past 20 or 25 years, and sarily mean that it is a public, whether its continuation in the rather than private, economic future is wise. problem. There are other needs Whether other comparisons and just as “basic.” more refined and more comprehen- The late, great Professor Joseph sive analysis would put the gov- P. Schumpeter of Harvard Uni- ernment interventionist period in versity often observed that a less unfavorable light would be America is in danger of being one worth further study. The figures of the first great modern nations in the table are not submitted to to be socialized because something prove any conclusion; but they do has happened to our spirit. Alexis suggest, at least superficially, that de Tocqueville, in 1836, said: HOUSING STARTS IN THE UNITED STATES With Govern- Without Aid ment Aid 1925 1926 1955 1956 Nonfarm Housing Starts (thousands) 937 849 1,329 1,118 Gross National Product* (billion dollars) 161.8 170.8 392.7 402.2 Population (millions) 1158 117.4 1653 168.2 Housing Starts per Million Dollars GNP* 5.79 4.97 3.38 2.78 Housing Starts per Thousand Population - 8.09 7.23 8.04 6.65 *Gross National Product adjusted to reflect the same value of the dollar as in 1954, ===== PAGE 12 ===== 10 THE FREEMAN August “In America .. . the citizen... vention start? What are the state never thinks of soliciting the co- and local responsibilities, as operation of the government; but against the central government's he publishes his plan, offers to ex- responsibility? ecute it himself, courts the as- sistance of other individuals, and No Shortages in Free Market struggles manfully against all ob- The essentially private character stacles. Undoubtedly he is often of housing as a commodity and the less successful than the State historical record suggest that the might have been in his position; questions which the Subcommittee but in the end, the sum of these put to me are easily resolved, even private undertakings far exceeds though incapable of concrete, all that the government could quantitative answers. effect.” Even in the first one, “What are Many of our citizens, it seems, the prospects for an adequate sup- have lost the profound insights of ply of residential construction la- our forebearers and men like de bor during the period 1961-70?" it Tocqueville with respect to the would seem obvious that if neither great individual and social gains labor unions nor government cre- which can come through this in- ate any roadblocks, labor mobility dividual effort and self-reliance. and individual personal incentives We seem to have become victims will assure an “adequate” supply of what has been called “the social- of construction labor to meet the ization of the soul.” bulging requirements of the Perhaps here we have the key 1960's. The word “adequate” has to the absence of superior per- little meaning, of course, except formance in recent decades, even in terms of voluntary participa- with all our government interven- tion by workers in construction tion, as against the performance trades and the demand for the in our earlier history, for example, services of workers in general in in the 1920's mentioned above. alternative employments. Again, I do not want to draw any We might put the matter an- dogmatic conclusions, but this other way, in the form of a dif- Subcommittee might think seri- ferent question: Has any effective ously about the kind of society we demand (desire, coupled with abil- have and the kind of society we ity and willingness to pay) for any want to build. Where does indi- commodity or service ever re- vidual responsibility end? And mained unfulfilled for any extended where should government inter- period because of the scarcity of ===== PAGE 13 ===== 1959 GOVERNMENT IN THE HOUSING BUSINESS 11 common or skilled labor? Except no labor arbitrator, and no govern- for very short periods, such as a ment bureau is wise enough to say few days or weeks, it would be what wage rates ought to be. But difficult to identify any significant if permitted to do so, the market consumer demand in peacetime will provide the answer. Why have which has ever been left unsati- wages in manufacturing gone up ated because of a scarcity of labor. slightly faster since 1934 than in Thus, it seems to me that this building construction (particularly question enters needlessly into an so, since fringe benefits in manu- arena where market forces can be facturing are also larger than in relied upon to furnish the correct the building trades) ? Supply and answer, provided, of course, no demand forces unquestionably artificial restraints or stimulants were at work. Some might argue are put in the way of these forces. that even as long ago as 1934, con- It is the function of the free mar- struction labor was too expensive, ket, the free price (wage) system, relatively speaking; although I and the self-interest motive to al- would have no information to sup- locate human and other resources port such a view. But, probably, in response to free consumer de- the rise in construction wages has mand. been retarded, relatively to those On the other hand, if artificial in manufacturing, because of sub- forces tend to overstimulate hous- stitution effects. ing starts, when the remainder of If construction labor is in fact the economy is in a buoyant state, overpriced or deliberate shortages an apparent shortage of both labor are created by closed unions, un- and materials might occur. duly high initiation fees, or un- After all, when permitted to do necessarily long apprenticeship so, the price system does work. training periods, this will raise the In 1934, average hourly earnings price of construction labor in the in manufacturing were $ .53 and organized trades. But, if these oc- in building construction $ .79, or cupations are relatively more re- 50 per cent higher, By 1959, aver- munerative, additional people will age hourly earnings in manufac- be attracted to the industry in turing had reached $2.21, or 417 those areas of the economy where per cent of the 1934 figure, while this is permitted — that is to say, average hourly earnings in build- where the union does not have ing construction had reached $3.18, complete control of job opportuni- or 403 per cent of the 1934 figure. ties. No labor leader, no businessman, Furthermore, such overpricing ===== PAGE 14 ===== 12 THE FREEMAN August will put a high premium on pre- the work week or feather-bedding fabrication and the related trends. or restrictions on the use of labor- It seems altogether probable that saving devices are ways of effec- the on-site labor requirements for tively reducing the supply of labor. residential construction will dimin- Without government support, un- ish year by year in the decade ions cannot hold back the tide of ahead. The use of component con- progress for long. struction, subassemblies, and mod- Thus, it is likely in some locali- ular design will increase greatly. ties and at some times that con- If it should happen that a scarcity struction trades may overprice of construction labor develops in their services and restrict output. the decade ahead, these powerful There are powerful price and tech- forces will be accelerated, quite nological forces working in the probably, to the point where any other direction; so that it would serious labor scarcity will be fairly appear to be improbable that we promptly overcome. But local bot- would have any secular deficiency tlenecks for particular skills will of construction labor supply in the continue from time to time, as period ahead or that unit housing they have in the past. costs, for identical products, will rise relatively. Ways To Break Bottlenecks Labor costs, of course, are not Even if the labor leaders were merely a question of hourly wage so unwise as to put restrictions on rates, but also of fringe benefits the use of labor-saving methods and of labor input, of productivity. and components, then building And productivity, of course, is a materials firms, contractors, and result of improved tools, manage- consumers — that is, the house ment, technology, components, ma- buyers — are not necessarily under terials, and the like, as well as permanent restraint; they have labor. If wage rates should rise ways of getting around this. unduly, or restrictive practices — By the supply of labor, we, of including unduly short work weeks course, don’t merely mean so many — occur, this will put a very high bodies. The economic concept of premium on a massive reduction labor supply involves not only the in on-site labor, and a great in- number of human beings, but also crease in the use of components their ability, their skill, their which are factory-made, and will work habits, and the number of give additional impetus to prefab- hours they are willing to work per rication and all the movements in week. Reductions in the length of that direction. ¢ oo ===== PAGE 15 ===== The Great Job-Killer or—IT COULD HAPPEN HERE It was a sunny afternoon At story-telling time. Old Kaspar clipped a fresh cigar And poured his rum-and-lime, While Peterkin and Wilhelmine Looked at the futurama screen. They saw a monstrous marble tomb Beyond a shaded square, And groups of shabby, pallid men Who stood in silence there; While men in sandwich boards rehearsed A picket line with signs reversed. “Now tell us what it’s all about!” The little children cried. “It is the tomb of Gus the Great,” Old Kaspar soon replied. “His union members gladly bought A noble tomb to mark the spot.” “How old was he,” asked Wilhelmine, “And just what made him die?” “Death came upon him in his prime,” Said Kaspar with a sigh. “A hungry worker ran amuck And pushed him underneath a truck.” » o “Then why do people call him Great?” Asked little Peterkin. “He organized the General Strike; And when the count was in, He'd killed more jobs in one short year Than all the Great Depressions, dear.” H. P. B. JENKINS Economist at Fayetteville, Arkansas 13 ===== PAGE 16 ===== Despite all efforts to enforce equality . . . SOME ANIMALS ARE ALWAYS . HORE EQUAL WILLIAM HENRY CHAMBERLIN ONE OF THE MOST brilliant satires equal than others. And the disil- on communism was written by a lusioning climax was reached when British radical author who wrote the “less equal” animals caught under the name of George Orwell. sight of the new ruling class, the It is entitled Animal Farm and pigs, comfortably making a deal represents farm animals raising a with the former two-legged “ex- successful revolt against the ty- ploiters.” ranny of their owners and setting Orwell's fable is an accurate re- up an animal agricultural commu- flection of what has happened in nist state, complete with a declara- almost all the communist experi- tion of the rights of animals and ments, big and small, of which a revolutionary hymn beginning: history has any record. “Beasts of England, Beasts of Ire- From early times, individuals land, Beasts of every land and have preached equality in material clime. . ..” possessions and standards of liv- Bit by bit, however, the pigs, ing; and small groups have, from the shrewdest and most cunning of time to time, tried to practice it. the animals, came into control of But experience shows that the the situation. Various means were practice goes against deep-rooted found to punish and liquidate pro- human instincts, except in socie- testers. The original slogan that ties at a very primitive level, all animals are equal was modified where anthropologists find little to read: Some animals are more resistance to common ownership —_— of land and other forms of prop- Mr. Chamberlin is author of the definitive two-volume history of the Russian Revolution erty. her books and articl i i ort affalre. | other 7 and prices on But as soon as a tribe begins to 14 ===== PAGE 17 ===== 1959 SOME ANIMALS ARE ALWAYS MORE EQUAL 15 emerge from a very simple way of Under leaders like Thomas Miinzer life, improves its methods of cul- and John of Leiden, the Anabap- tivation, becomes acquainted with tists raised the banner of armed a variety of consumer goods, the revolt and for some time the Ger- instinct for inequality begins to man town of Miinster was in their assert itself. Among people who possession. Their leader, John of have risen above the primitive Leiden, practiced community of tribal state of society, a score of wives and the whole short-lived experiments in communal living episode of Anabaptist rule in have failed and broken up for Miinster found few sympathizers every one that has succeeded. _ in Germany or in other countries. There was also a left wing Religious Motivations among the British Puritans of the Some of these experiments have seventeenth century who over- claimed a religious sanction, cit- threw the rule of Charles I and ing the example of some early followed the lead of Cromwell. Christian converts who gave their Known as Levelers and Diggers money to the Apostles and other (because some of them tried to texts in Scripture condemning the seize and cultivate unoccupied pride and avarice of the rich. As land), they wanted to push political against this, it should be noted and religious change into social that communism was not part of revolution. But they were put down the everyday life of early Christian by Cromwell, and their movement congregations; Old and New Tes- became only a historical memory. taments impartially condemn sin, regardless of the status of the Fourier, Owen, and Others sinner; and Christianity and Ju- In the nineteenth century, secu- daism, like all great religious lar systems of thought began to faiths, place their emphasis on replace religion as the motivation rules of right living, not on ex- for communal schemes of living. periments in social and economic One of the most ingenious of the change. early communist thinkers was the The word communism has been Frenchman, Francois Fourier, who associated with the Anabaptists, wanted to divide mankind into so- the extreme political and theologi- called phalanges of about 1,600 cal leftwingers of the time of the persons each, living in common Reformation, who were repudiated dwellings called phalansteries and just as vigorously by Lutherans cultivating plots of land in com- and Calvinists as by the Catholics. mon. Marriage was to be abolished ===== PAGE 18 ===== 16 THE FREEMAN August and replaced by a system of more nished by the kibbutzim, the pio- or less regulated license in the neer farm colonies set up by young brave new world of Fourier. Zionists in Palestine. Fourier’'s ideas spread to other So long as communal experi- countries and influenced an eccen- ments were voluntary, there was tric Russian landowner named no reason to object to them. Some Petrashevsky, who went so far as of the members of the Brook Farm to build a phalanstery for his community later said it had added serfs. They did not take kindly to to their knowledge of human the idea and burned down the com- nature; and this was probably true mon dwelling at the first oppor- . as regards other abortive ventures tunity. of this kind. Some dreamy New England idealists formed a community at Equalizing by State Compulsion Brook Farm which broke up ulti- A new element was introduced mately because too many of the into the situation in the present members wanted to follow literary century, when the whole coercive and artistic pursuits and not power of a dictatorial state was enough were willing to do the set to the task of enforcing equal- chores on which the success of the ity and forcing people to live ac- farm depended. A contemporary of cording to tommunist rules, Fourier, although a man of quite whether they desired to do so or different background, was Robert not. And it is interesting and sig- Owen, who turned away from a nificant to note that, even when successful career as a mill opera- this immense coercive power was tor to sponsor cooperative living thrown into the balance, the at- ventures, of which the town of tempt to enforce anything like ap- New Harmony, in Indiana, was proximate equality of living condi- one of the best known. tions failed completely. But New Harmony went the The dull, repressed, instinctive way of Brook Farm, and the prin- hatred which the many poor and ciple continued to hold true that ignorant in Russia felt for the only groups which were held to- few who were well-to-do and edu- gether by some powerful religious cated was the main dynamic force or ethical sanction were able to by means of which Lenin and his solve the problem of living to- associates were able to demolish gether on a basis of substantial the existing social order and set equality. Various monastic orders up in its place their Soviet Re- are one example; another was fur- public, avowedly based on the ===== PAGE 19 ===== 1959 SOME ANIMALS ARE ALWAYS MORE EQUAL 17 teachings of Karl Marx. The aver- on a scale rarely, if ever, accom- age Russian soldier, worker, or plished, certainly not in the life of peasant knew little of the fine a large nation. Not only big land- points of Marxist doctrine. owners but medium peasant farm- But the Bolshevik agitators won ers were expropriated and land an immediate response when they was parceled out in minute frag- told the soldiers, exhausted after ments, depending on the size of three years of unsuccessful war, the peasant family. Workers were that if they would only follow transferred to rich and middle- Lenin there would be no more war class apartments. Money rapidly and that they should leave the lost all value, and trade relations front, go home to their villages, were put on a basis of requisition- and pillage the big estates. There ing the peasants’ surplus produce, was the same response among the with distribution of what little was workers when they were urged to produced in the nationalized fac- seize the factories. Just what they tories in compensation. Manual would do with them after they workers and children of workers seized them was not very clear. were given legal preference in ad- But in what conservative Russians mission to universities. often called “the crazy year,” 1917, the whole country was in such The Fate of Russian Peasants ferment and upheaval that the But this early communist strong most extreme counsels were apt to medicine figuratively, and in many be followed. And the peasants, the cases literally, killed the patient, older ones who had remained in the Russian people. The Soviet the villages or the younger ones government, preaching its dema- who streamed home in disorderly gogic war of poor against rich, masses from the front, were won succeeded (with the aid of many over to at least passive acceptance blunders of its opponents) in of the new communist-dominated crushing the various anticommu- Soviet regime by the authorization nist movements which led to civil from Moscow to divide up the big war in many parts of the country; estates on such a basis that every but Russia in 1921 was indus- peasant family would receive a trially and agriculturally prostrate. share of land in proportion to the A famine took millions of lives number of its members. and would have taken millions The new Soviet government, more if it had not been for the during the first few years of its humanitarian effort of Herbert existence, carried out equalization Hoover's American Relief Admin- ===== PAGE 20 ===== 18 THE FREEMAN August istration, supplemented by other of a ruthless dictatorship to en- religious and philanthropic agen- force equality, there is more evi- cies. This, together with the re- dent material inequality in the volt of the Kronstadt sailors and Soviet Union today than there is other signs of popular discontent, in most noncommunist countries. brought about the shift to the so- One by one, the methods by which called New Economic Policy. this material equality was sup- In order to revive an economy posed to be implemented have been that was virtually in collapse, scrapped. Communists now get the Lenin accepted, temporarily, a full salary the job may call for. large injection of capitalist meth- Lenin’s idea that the most highly ods. There was freedom for trade placed communist should receive and small industry. Money re- only a skilled worker’s wage has placed barter. As the country as long been placed in the museum a whole moved up from the star- of the Revolution. Workers no vation level, a class of speculator- longer receive preference in ad- traders — so-called NEPMEN, mission to universities. The best from the initials of New Economic apartments and country villas, the Policy, NEP — aroused attention still few automobiles go to the new by their conspicuous wining and well-to-do class that has emerged dining. under Soviet rule: high Party and However, the New Economic government officials, industrial Policy was temporary. By 1929, managers, scientists, and intellec- freedom of private trade was vir- tuals whom the government cher- tually at an end. The peasants were ishes for the value of their work, being dragooned into collective writers and artists who conform farms where they lost individual to the Communist Party line. possession of their land and were When the industrious reporter, forced to raise what the State told John Gunther, visited Russia in the them to raise, and on the State’s winter of 1956-57, he found the terms. Great numbers of city average worker getting 650 to 800 traders and peasants who opposed rubles a month, as compared with this new order were sent to slave the 15,000 rubles for the President labor concentration camps. of the Academy of Sciences, 8,000 to 12,000 for the rector of an im- Inequality Persists portant university, 6,000 for a What is truly amazing and senior government official, 4,000 deeply significant is that, after all for an Army colonel, and the like. these attempts to employ the power This inequality is the more pro- ===== PAGE 21 ===== 1959 SOME ANIMALS ARE ALWAYS MORE EQUAL 19 nounced because the maximum in- highly esteemed Swiss newspaper, come tax in the Soviet Union is 13 Neue Zuercher Zeitung, on the oc- per cent. casion of a recent visit to Yugo- In the first years of the Revolu- slavia: tion, when equality was the offi- “Listening to the conversation cial ideal, every effort was made to of well-dressed gentlemen every- reduce to a minimum differences where, at airport waiting rooms, between officers and privates in on railway sleeping cars, or in the the Red Army. The salute was more elegant coffee houses, one abolished off duty; even the word might think that Yugoslavia is in “officer” was replaced by what was the midst of a powerful boom. supposed to be the more demo- There is much talk about invest- cratic “commander.” Now, differ- ments, export and import busi- ences of rank and status in the Red ness, distribution of dividends, Army are greater and more trips abroad, new cars and new harshly enforced than in any demo- houses. . . . Of course, most of cratic army. When American and these gentlemen are party mem- Soviet soldiers mixed fairly freely bers, but in their eyes now social- immediately after the end of the ism means above all a high stand- war in Germany, Soviet privates ard of living. . . . The Marshal were amazed to learn that in the himself sets the example with his American army a private could personal style of living and every- smoke the same brand of cigarettes one seeks to follow him according as his commanding officer. to his particular possibilities. “These possibilities remain lim- The “New Class’ in Yugoslavia ited, to be sure, for a large ma- Yugoslavia, under the rule of jority of the Yugoslav people.” the veteran communist, Marshal While members of what Tito’s Tito, broke off politically from disillusioned former lieutenant, the communist bloc of states in Milovan Djilas, calls ‘“the new 1948 and has since gone its own class’ enjoy an increasingly luxuri- way. At the time of the breach, ous style of living, considerable Tito and his followers claimed that numbers of Yugoslavs continue to Stalin had perverted the teachings flee the country in search of bet- of Marx and Lenin, that they were ter opportunities elsewhere. the authentic champions of the The experience of this revolu- communist cause. But here are the tionary age has proved conclu- impressions of Mr. Victor Meier, sively that all the force at the dis- experienced correspondent of the posal of a modern dictatorship can- ===== PAGE 22 ===== 20 THE FREEMAN August not make people live on a basis of untary association of small groups material equality. Indeed, both in of men and women, usually held the Soviet Union and in Yugo- together by some strong bond of slavia, the attempt has been aban- religious faith or moral convic- doned; and flagrant inequality, ac- tion. centuated by the poverty of the But the attempt to shoot, starve, countries, is the rule — not the ex- and coerce peoples into commu- ception. nism (if one understands by com- munism equality of living stand- Dictatorship Means Unequal Power ards) has proved a pitiful failure. What the Founding Fathers of Even if some of the pioneer revo- socialism and communism never lutionary communists are ideal- faced up to is the simple fact that istic enough to practice self-denial dictatorship, which means inequal- in the seats of power, this psy- ity of power, will inevitably, under chology will never carry over to any social and economic system, a second generation. The human bring in its wake inequality of equivalents of the pigs in George wealth and living standards. Some Orwell’s Animal Farm will always animals will always be “more get hold of the power machine and equal.” see to it that they and the groups The only kind of communal liv- whom they favor are considerably ing on a basis of equality that has “more equal” than the other ani- any prospect of success is the vol- mals. ° oe ++. As If They Were Wiser Than God “THE EXPERIENCE that was had in this commone course and con- dition, tried sundrie years, and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanitie of that conceite of Platos and other ancients, applauded by some of later times; — that the taking away of propertie, and bringing in communitie into a comone wealth, would make them happy and florishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this comunitie (so farr as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and re- tard much imployment that would have been to their benefits and comforte.” From GOVERNOR BRADFORD'S account of the failure of the early Plymouth Bay Colony experiment in communal living. ===== PAGE 23 ===== HE WHO TENDS Th ANN TERRILL THE PRESERVATION of freedom is a matter of individual responsibility. It consists, basically, of taking one’s own destiny in hand, coura- geously assuming the responsibili- ties and fortunes thereof. The chances of rewarding achievement from such a course are limited only by the individual's capabili- ties and efforts. Thus, the climate of freedom, with its economic sys- tem of competitive private enter- prise, provides the world’s most practical and foolproof road to riches, For, “he who tends the tree” does indeed pick the fruit. The American level of living offers generous proof of this. A fine example of the fruit of extra- ordinarily industrious “tree tend- ing” covers 200 acres of Southern California farm land and is known simply as Knott's Berry Farm. The world-famous show place is noted for its substantial, but unpreten- Ann Terrill is a California housewife. ga “ ~ ~~ O_o TR ~~ - LY -~ . - [ed EN oo