Brad Miller

Posts Tagged ‘Spontaneous Order’

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Leonard Read’s “I, Pencil”: Still relevant 53 years later

In Advocates of Liberty, Free Market Miracles on August 29, 2011 at 1:28 pm

Leonard Read the founder of FEE and a champion of the Freedom Philosophy published his most famous work “I, Pencil” in 1958.

http://fee.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/I-Pencil-2006-edition.pdf

   “I, Pencil” is a short, succinct story that dispels at once the “know-it-all-ness” of central planners by illustrating how not a single man on Earth knows how to make a simple wooden pencil.

    By tracing the manufacture of himself, the “pencil” reveals that millions of individuals had their hand at helping him come into being. The story brings to life the  miraculous “spontaneous order” that the “invisible hand” brings about when individuals free of coercion exchange upon the Free Market.

“I, Pencil, am a complex combination of miracles: a tree, zinc, copper, graphite, and so on. But to these miracles which manifest themselves in Nature an even more extraordinary miracle has been added: the configuration of creative human energies— millions of tiny know-hows configurating naturally and spontaneously in response to human necessity and desire and in the absence of any human masterminding!” 

  The pencil traces its genealogy  from a single tree to all the other natural resources and human energy needed to bring about its existence. He explains that it’s not just the person who fells the tree, mines the graphite or runs the machines in the pencil factory that are responsible for his creation.  What is unseen in the creation of the pencil is the millions of individuals who mined the ore for the steel to make the saws and machinery and the ships and trucks. Then there are the men who are unseen who are involved in getting oil out of the ground, refined and transported. Taken a step further there are the other individuals who go unseen who produce the food, clothing and housing for the workers who build the saws and machines, drives the trucks, mines the ore, fell the trees, produce the lacquer and finally runs the pencil making machines.

   The revelation that millions of people are needed to produce a single pencil changed the way I viewed the world. Sir Isaac Newton is credited with saying that “We stand upon the shoulder of giants” when he referred to his accomplishments . “I, Pencil” illustrates a similar truth that we all are dependent upon on the millions of people around the world who everyday  have a hand in making the things we buy.

   Stressing the need for “faith in Free People” the pencil implores the reader to contemplate that these millions of exchanges that must occur for him, a simple pencil, to come into being are not directed by anyone in government. They are the result of free individuals using their small amount of knowledge to produce their small piece of a product that others want in exchange for products and services they want.

   This story is similar to what Bastiat wrote a hundred years before “I, Pencil”. In Natural and artificial Organization Bastiat uses a humble carpenter  instead of the manufacturing of a pencil as a means to illustrate the complexity of relationships in the Free Market. He writes that the humble carpenter enjoys in one day goods and services that he in a life time could never come close to producing.  And all the individuals produce the goods and services he consumes not out of altruism or societal good but out of self-interest. They act because they know that Production must proceed Consumption. 

http://mises.org/daily/5473/Natural-and-Artificial-Organization

  Bastiat quoted Rousseau in his Natural and artificial Organization : “Much Philosophy is needed for the correct observation of things which are in front of our eyes.” Throughout their stories Bastiat and Leonard Read help us see the “Unseen” efforts that create the abundance and variety of physical goods we are able to buy on the Free Market. They stress that they exists because individuals are free to act and enjoy their  Natural Right to their Life, Liberty andPproperty without interference from the State.

“I, Pencil” is the shortest most concise explanation of the Free Market that I’ve found. It takes less than fifteen minutes to read and it could change the way you view the world for the rest of your life.

And that’s my Take

bastiat1776

AdvocateofLiberty

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Difference Between Conservatives and Libertarians

In Liberty, Taxes, True nature of the State on August 23, 2011 at 5:24 pm

Conservative Talk Show Host Illustrtates how Big Government Grows under Republicans

I used to call myself a Conservative. Now I fancy myself an Advocate of Liberty, one who advocates for my own Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property and the right of everyone else to the same. Some people call this the Freedom philosophy, Libertarianism or another way to say it is that I am a Radical Individualist. I belive that I am a unique entity and no one has a right to “govern” my actions unless I violate the Natural Rights of others.

A lot of Conservatives claim to support individual liberty but fail to understand that any time the State is called upon to “govern” how someone chooses to live their life that individual’s Natural Rights are violated.

Today I was listening to conservative talk show host who said something today that highlighted the difference between the conservative ideology and that of Libertarians.

A caller was talking about his idea for ending Social Security. The guy was nervous but I thought he got his point across but I think the host missed it completely. The caller said that his plan to end Social Security was to first  pay people back what they paid into the system, secondly honor the commitment to keep payments going to folks already on it, and then end the Social security program all together. His main point was that he was not a fan of Social Security. He did not have time to articulate why the Social Security program like the other entitlement programs violated individuals’ Natural Right to their Life, Liberty and Property. He didn’t get the chance. The host  was pressuring him to get his point out because he was up against a break but curiously had time to take a call about Sarah Palin after he got the guy  off the line.
Before the host ended the call he actually said that he agreed with the caller but what he said next makes me think he really didn’t. He said that the caller’s plan was similar to Paul Ryan’s plan which he supports. He went on to explain that the Ryan Plan pays out to people already on Social security then the plan allows those under 50 to own and invest their retirement but the government will still force them to save!!!

That last qualifier illustrates where the host and the caller ideologically part ways. How can anyone who wants to live free accept the premise that the State can force you to save? If the State can force you to save they can tell you how to spend all of your income.  What is the premise behind this idea that the government can dictate how individuals spend their money? It assumes that individuals if left free to exercise their God-given right to their Life, Liberty and Property are not capable of taking care of themselves and that the State must intervene and make decisions for them. How is that premise any different from the one that spawned the Welfare State?

That is why it is always important to check your basic premise and the basic premise of others. One side believes in the basic premise that individuals have a Natural Right to their Life, Liberty and Property and the other side does not. They believe that the State can determine what “rights” individuals have.

If someone chooses not to save that is their choice. When they get old and are destitute that will be a lesson to those around them that saving for retirement is probably good idea.

Private charities have existed long before the Welfare State and would do a far better job helping the poor and sick than any bureaucratic humanitarian could ever do. The more of a person’s income they are “allowed” to keep the more charity spending they would do. The individuals in the U.S. already give a ton of cash to charity just think what would happen if everyone kept 90% or even 100% of their income?

When the State intervenes in the life choices of individuals everyone suffers. When people are free to live, to choose, to invest, to invent and  to meet consumer demand without interference everyone benefits. It is the “Spontaneous Order”  Hayek wrote about. Prosperity comes to all when individuals are free to spend and save the fruits of their labor as they see fit. If you accept that the State has some role to play in how individuals do that then you do not believe in each individual’s inherent inalienable Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property.

This is the dividing line between those who believe in the Freedom Philosophy which can be summed up as “anything peaceful” and those who on the Right embrace the concept of a coercive powerful central government that is “okay” as long as it is forcing people to live as they see fit. This is the same “Fatal Conceit” that all collectivists share.

I am an advocate for a Stateless society in which private individuals and entities enter into voluntary exchanges without external coercion. Until this day I advocate for the immediate ending of the Social Safety Net,  ending the wars and bringing the troops home, and lowering federal taxes to 10% or less which would then only be used to fund the  National Defense ( under 100 billion a year) andto pay off the debt.  After the debt is paid off I don’t see why the National Defense could not be providedfor  like all other services through private entities.?

I believe that most conservatives want to be free and it is our job who Advocate for Liberty to help them see that by embracing the Coercive State to accomplish anythingt limits the freedom of everyone.

And That’s My Take

Bastiat1776

AdvocateofLiberty

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President’s jobs plan: Planning for Failure

In True nature of the State on August 18, 2011 at 4:07 pm

The President of the United States will unveil the details of his job creation plan in September when Congress returns from its break.  Then he will also submit a plan to the 12 members of the super committee that is supposed to reduce the deficit.

I’m feeling better already that I know the President has got a “plan”. (NOT)

The President recently stated that:

“What is needed is action by Congress. It’s time for the games to stop. It’s time to put country first,” “We could do even more if Congress is willing to get in the game”

That’s what we need more “actions” by Congress. That always turns out well for us.

The President’s  basic Premise is that the State should command and control the decisions that individuals make because he and his ilk are smarter and know better than they do. Hayek’s term “Fatal Conceit” is appropriate here. The Central Planners  are so arrogant they think they can plan your life for you.  Do you think you can spend your time and money better than the politicians and bureaucrats can? I know I do.

By understanding his basic premise I don’t need to know the details of his plan. Because I know that whatever he proposes it will be by its very existence of being a “plan” an instrument to limit individual liberty and increase the power and scope of the State. No matter what form of government intervention he proposes,  it will distort the Free Market because it will deprive more people of the power to choose for themselves how they spend their time and money.

This basic premise that individuals can not judge appropriately for themselves how best to spend their time and money forces the Central Planners to reject the idea Adam Smith that there exists an “Invisible Hand”.  They reject the basic premise that when individuals act in their own self-interest that in fact benefits sociey as whole. What is ironic about this is that by them pursuing their self-interst, i.e. gaining power and influence in government they believe they themselves are helping sociey as a whole.

Our whole economy is in dire straits because of previous congress’ and presidents’ plans. Couple those failed plans with the monetary debasement and price-fixing performed by the Federal Reserve and its no big secret why we are in the mess we are in.  But still the arrogant ruling class calls for more and more plans to fix the failures of their past. Until  individuals in great numbers realize the failures of these plans and policies and once again looks to themselves instead of the Statefor their economic wellbeing; we will continue to  get plan after plan from the politicians, pundits, and professors that will force us further down the “Road to Serfdom”.

I reject the president’s plan as well as any presented by Congress which does not immediately open up currency competition in the U.S. by ending the legal tender laws (Greatly diminishing the power of the Fed), immediatley end Fractional Reserve Banking, eliminate the minimum wage, eliminate the IRS, eliminate the U.S. involvement in the U.N., World Bank, and IMF, eliminate the Dept of Labor, the Dept of Commerce, the Dept of Education, and the Dept of Energy, cut the Defense Department in half and end the wars overseas, legalize drugs, prostitution, and gambling,  phase out Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,  and eliminate all other government spending by 40%.

This is the only true “jobs plan”.

That is a “Plan” I would support because my basic premise is based upon the Natural Right to Life, Liberty and Property. The President and the central planners do not believe in Natural Rights and their basic premise is predicated on increasing the power of the State over our lives.

The plan I propose would be a plan that would increase individual liberty and diminish the power of the State. But Until individuals in this country recognize the fact that when they clamor for political planning they are in essence feeding the Leviathan which has an insatiable appetite, with more and more of their Life, Liberty and Property.

And that’s my take

Bastiat1776

AdvocateofLiberty

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