DON'T BE AFRAID OF BIG GOVERNMENT

Liberalism, the ideology (what we now call Libertarianism), came of age in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century. It was about a lot of things, but we can, I think, characterize it by saying it was about Free Minds and Free Markets. Free minds: exploring the world around us without interference from the age-old enemy- AUTHORITY. It allowed saying and doing what you will, within a framework of just laws. Reason would become an Authority that would advise in conflicts between religion, tradition, or ideology and New Ideas. Liberalism thought it wrong for Authority to substitute its judgment for that of the individual and said so, repeatedly and eloquently.

Free markets were championed by this new Liberalism. John Locke, Adam Smith, David Hume, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, the French Physiocrats and others– these men saw that Governments caused more trouble than benefit when they interfered with the economic actions of free men.

Men were born free-that is: they were not pawns to be moved about a chessboard by the privileged, or those who thought themselves superior . And freedom to act, to make mistakes, to learn, and to prosper, these were necessary conditions for the development of man’s spirit. And these conditions were best achieved by the promotion of individual freedom and individual responsibility for one’s acts.

Where the ideas of these men were adopted and advanced, freedom and prosperity flowered, where struggle and strife had ruled before.

But all was not well in this new world, for this new world had produced wealth. The production of wealth is noisy, and this noise woke Procrustes from his slumbers.

As he strolled through the marketplace he was amazed and awed by the things he saw. And he wondered how he could fuel the people to revolt against such wealth that was so common. “Surely they won’t listen to me now,” he said to himself, “after having achieved all this.”.

But he was wrong.

He became Marx in Germany, the Webb’s in England, and a thousand other names and faces around the globe. In the U.S. he couldn't call himself a socialist because many of the common people didn't trust Socialism. He looked around and decided to call himself a Liberal, because people liked the term, because they (rightly) associated the great gains the common man had made with the liberal philosophy. So a man who stood against everything the Liberal stood for stole his name and derided the real Liberal as someone “old fashioned”, “out of touch”, "not compassionate". And he gained fame by telling people they had a right to a lot more things than they had now. He gained fame not by comparing how people lived now with how they lived before, but by comparing how they lived now with how they could live if they stole their (richer) neighbors goods. He gained fame by convincing people that by giving up their independence and having faith in and love for their rulers, that they would prosper. “Follow me, and I will lead you to a heaven on earth” he said to the people. He became very popular.

Everything was to be done for the common good. We’re-all-in-this-together-no-man-is-an-island-we-should-all-live-for-each-other-from-each-according-to-his-abilities-to-each-according-to-his-needs.

Thus the stage is set.

Collectivism

The Bad Century– my century, the 20th century– started off with expressions of great contempt for Liberalism (“old”Liberalism). In the West, MALiberalism (Modern American Liberalism) was gaining ground fast (the phony liberalism that Procrustes promoted). More radical versions of the same thing: Fascism, Communism, and Nazism expressed open contempt for the philosophies, the economics, and the institutions of Liberalism. Liberalism had made people weak and small, it was the last gasp of an old order, it stole the production of workers. It was INJUSTICE WRIT LARGE. It could in no way compete with a society in which the government managed all of man’s affairs. We, the anti-liberals, would create a variety of Eden’s where the people, in exchange for ceding their liberties to their governments, would (somehow) derive great benefits that would flow to the obedient. There would be great prosperity, of course, and there would be no fear or anxiety that were the constant companions of people in the Liberal communities, where people had to assume responsibility for themselves. You would be taken care of if you didn’t make any waves and did what you were told. And don’t ask too many questions. We’re doing all this for you!

You have one life. It’s yours to do with what you will. What if you didn’t want to go along with all this? What if you didn’t agree to give up your freedoms? Well, then you are an “Enemy of the State”, but we will still provide you with a home: GULAG. Welcome!

And the people liked it. It apparently made them feel warm. Made them feel good. So they ceded their liberties to their governments, in exchange for the genius of planning, and security from the hardships of assuming responsibilities for their own lives. And the people prospered. Uh... well... kind of... not exactly.

Blood. That’s what the 20th century was about. Socialism. The total state. Blood. They smelled it. They wallowed in it. They bled it. Some of them rejoiced in it, until even those who loved it became sick of the stench.

Blood. Let the government take care of you. You will fight our many wars.
Blood. Let the government take care of you. You will obey our commands or you will bleed.
Blood. Let the government take care of you. We will take your children and do with them what we will.
Blood. Let the government take care of you. If you challenge us we take your families’ blood, until we can get to you.

So, as you can see, it all worked out well for everyone.

So the next time you hear someone complaining about losing their freedoms, just think: Enemy of the State!

-flynn