Daily Bell: What are the
"lofty standards of liberty"?
Lawrence Reed: I'll list some
of the big ones here but this is by no means a complete roster: Respect for the
lives, property, choices and contracts of your fellow citizens. A healthy
recognition that as much as you think you know, there's a world of knowledge
out there that you don't know. Self-improvement should be a life-long
commitment. If you want to reform the world, you must reform yourself first and
then be a good example that others will seek to emulate. Refrain from the
initiation of force, which is something that should be used only in defense of
individual rights. Central planning requires an arrogant, condescending,
know-it-all attitude that a person of solid character should shun. Take responsibility
for yourself and your loved ones; no one owes you a living just because you
breathe. When you see someone who needs and deserves help, remember that the
Good Samaritan wasn't good because he told the man in the gutter to call his
congressman; he pitched in and got the job done himself at probably half the
cost and twice the effectiveness that any politician could. Don't assume that
liberty is automatic or guaranteed just because you or your grandparents had
it; if good people who believe in it don't work for it, teach it, insist on it
and support it, it can be easily lost. Have patience, be courageous, stand on
principle, sacrifice if necessary for what you know to be right. Live for the
future, not merely for the here-and-now. Be optimistic because pessimism is a
self-fulfilling prophecy; you can change yourself if necessary and you can
change the world but not if you think either cause is lost before you even get
started. Keep your character up because freedom requires it, and you'll never
regret it.
Daily Bell: Your point is
that it is more difficult to live up to liberty than down to socialism?
Lawrence Reed: That's exactly
right. Socialism requires little more than obedience to authority: pay your
crushing taxes, keep quiet and let somebody else run your life for you, even
when they order you to give it up for a stupid cause like dictating how another
country should live. Living to socialism's standards means living down to some
pretty ugly things: dependency and disrespect for the rights and property of
others being chief among them. Liberty is a lofty objective. It requires us to
live up to very high standards. It's tempting to take what's not yours or hire
a politician to do that for you, but doing so is incompatible with liberty and
puts a permanent stain on your personal character. We should each be asking
ourselves every day, "Am I good enough for liberty?" If the honest
answer is NO, then the next logical step is to muster the courage and integrity
to clean up your act.
Daily Bell: Of course, the
world is in lousy shape these days. The drive toward global consolidation by
elites continues. Are they winning? They seem to be becoming more brutal.
Lawrence Reed: What is
becoming increasingly known as "crony capitalism" is very strong but
it's also under both intellectual and popular attack like never before in our
lifetimes. I think the term, "crony capitalism," is unfortunate
because I believe if it's cronyism (that is, dependent on the dispensing of
political favors), it's not capitalism. It really ought to be called
"crony socialism" but that's actually redundant. Socialism, or even
the half-way house of interventionism, always reduces to cronyism. The
politically well-connected always favor their friends and the corrupt will
always seek to use political power. For the moment, at least by the measure of
government activities and growth, it would appear they are winning. But I think
the growing numbers of those who believe in liberty and free markets are eating
away at the foundations of the welfare-warfare state the cronies have erected.
I remain optimistic as to the long term, even if short-term trends aren't all
in the right direction.
Daily Bell: What is so hard
to understand about markets or the advantages of competition versus laws and
regulation? Can politics ever take the place of market discipline?
Lawrence Reed: Laws and
regulation provide the appearance of a quick fix. Pass a law! Impose a rule!
Problem solved, or at least we can retire with the satisfaction that we've done
something. Talk about competition and other market forces and to many people it
all sounds nebulous, as if no one in particular is "in charge." Our
government schools have done a pretty good job of convincing people that good
intentions plus a little "democratic" force imposed by people we
elect will get the task done. It's our job as economists to explain that laws
and regulations pose their own costs and dilemmas: The lawmakers and the
bureaucrats have motives of their own and seldom consider all the side effects
of whatever they do, laws and regulations often prevent better solutions and
stymie innovation and rules can often be circumvented while they lull people
into complacency and a false sense of security. We also have to explain how the
seemingly nebulous forces of the market are, if the market is in fact free,
more powerful and productive than we usually assume. So those of us who believe
in free markets often have a tougher sell than the socialist con artist has.
All he has to do is make promises that sound good in and of themselves; we're
left to explain the wreckage as well as the alternative. I've often said that
coming to understand things like market forces, individual rights,
entrepreneurship, personal responsibility, etc., is part of the growing-up
process. Some people just don't grow up. Babies are all socialists in the sense
that they can think only of the short term. They want whatever they want and
they want it now. They don't much care where it comes from or who pays for it.
They make a lot of noise and mess if they don't get it and even if they do,
they still shit their pants. Becoming an adult means learning patience. It
means doing things for yourself, taking responsibility for your life, avoiding
the superficial, quick fixes. It means getting what you want through
persuasion, not force or tantrums. Socialists, in effect, are babies with guns.
read the entire interview here
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