I’m pleased to see that the Mises Institute is carrying The Discovery of Freedom. Rose Wilder Lane (Daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder) was one of the past century’s most ardent proponents of liberty. In particular, The Discovery of Freedom: Man’s Struggle Against Authority (1943) was a seminal work on freedom. It was recognized as such by not only the likes of Murray Rothbard and Robert LeFevre, but was also voted among the top 100 non-fiction books of the 20th century in a Modern Library readers’ poll.
Consider a few of the insights on the supreme importance of individual liberty that Lane, who John Chamberlain called “one of the three furies of libertarianism,” along with Ayn Rand and Isabel Patterson, still has to offer us in The Discovery of Freedom.“Every human being, by his nature, is free.”
“Government…is evil because it is a use of force…It is necessary because…a few men stupidly use force to injure others, and nothing but force will stop them.”
“The need for Government is the need for force; where force is unnecessary, there is no need for Government.”
“…all moral and spiritual values of human life are in the individual…”
“…Freedom is not a permission granted by any Authority…Liberty is inalienable; as I can not transfer my life to anyone else, I can not transfer my liberty, my control of my life-energy, to anyone else.”
“Americans saw…how absurd it is to believe that a Government can give anyone liberty.”
“All men are born equally of the same human kind and equally endowed with inalienable liberty. Therefore it is the men in Government who can do nothing without permission from the individuals whom they govern.”
“If Americans ever forget that American Government is not permitted to restrain or coerce any peaceful individual without his free consent, if Americans ever regard their use of their natural liberty as granted to them by the men in Washington or in the capitols of the States, then this…attempt to establish the exercise of human rights on earth is ended.”
“The true revolutionary course which must be followed toward a free world is a cautious, experimental process of further decreasing the uses of force which individuals permit to Government; of increasing the prohibitions of Government’s action, and thus decreasing the use of brute force in human affairs.”
“A man is able to use his self-controlling energy effectively toward its natural aim of improving living conditions, precisely to the extant that no use of force constrains him…His natural liberty is responsibility. He is born free; he controls his life and his affairs; he is responsible for them…”
“Weakening the Government, hampering the use of force in human affairs, is the only way to permit individuals to use their natural freedoms.”
“Legally restricting Government’s action to its smallest possible minimum reduces (to the smallest possible minimum) the use of force in human affairs, and thus permits the great majority of individuals to speak and act with the greatest possible freedom. Precisely by restricting Government, American Constitutional law permits Americans to act more freely than any other people on earth.”
“…every human being is naturally self-controlling. Therefore, the best conditions for human life are those that least interfere with any individual’s exercise of his natural freedom. He can act most freely when no other man uses force to prevent his acting…Government is necessary to stop criminals. But any use of force by men upon men is evil…Therefore, the best conditions are those in which Government is restricted to the smallest possible minimum; and further progress toward greater use of freedom is in further reducing and restricting Government.”
“…the more Americans believe that Government is a controlling authority, the more this Government is compelled to use force to hinder and restrict the exercise of natural individual freedom…”
“Human energy works to supply human needs and satisfy human desires, only when, where, and precisely to the extent that men know they are free. It works effectively only to the extent that Government is weak, so that individuals are least prevented from acting freely…All history shows this fact.”
In The Discovery of Freedom, Rose Wilder Lane developed the inseparable connection between life and liberty. Her powerful prose demonstrated the importance of individuals understanding the implications of the fact they are free. Along with Give Me Liberty, it had a tremendous influence in advancing that cause.
“In the human world there is nothing but individual persons, born free. That’s the brutal fact. It’s a tough job to be free. But six thousand years of trying to escape from freedom were tougher.”
{ 6 comments }
“Government…is evil because it is a use of force…It is necessary because…a few men stupidly use force to injure others, and nothing but force will stop them.”
I have encountered the argument about “government is necessary” a number of times on this and other libertarian sites, and it is a question that still seeks an answer. I have spoken the line that “government is bad and must go away completely” to many people. The reaction is almost always the same: if not government, what? Hoppe’s explanation of a society without government by means of businesses taking over the law and order aspects of society (as well as all the others) is philosophically accurate, but misses one important point: people want government, because it provides a hierarchy of associations that comforts them. Local government (villages, towns, cities), county, state, federal governments, even multinational organizations like the UN provide a sense of unity with other people at various levels, a sense of belonging that is inately human.
In reading Rothbard’s “Manifesto”, it seems to me that the key terms used to describe the evil of government are “monopolistic” and “coercive”. But what if we could imagine “government” that is not monopolistic and coercive. Yes, you and I know that we are talking about business. But it would be so much easier and arguably more natural to convey the essentials about libertarian thought if we could frame it in terms of a “non-monopolistic, non-territorial, non-coercive form of government”. Isn’t anyone up to this challenge?
Dwight,
“But what if we could imagine “government” that is not monopolistic and coercive.”
A multitude of diverse voluntary governments and communities is implicit in libertarian anarchy. The idea is contained in the phrase “covenantal communities”. Wherever the statement “people want [fill in the blank: let's say government]” is true, people can and will arrange to get it voluntarily under libertarian anarchy. There is nothing about anarchy that precludes voluntary, ethical, contractual and covenantal government. It merely precludes aggression, or at least, it recognizes aggression as universally unjustified.
So I think you will find Hoppe’s discussions of covenants of interest because they provide for just such a non-aggressive government that people need and that you refer to, and do it in an ethical contractual manner. I think it is as good as it gets given human nature.
Gary,
Good Job!
You might be interested in a recent book that I just came across with a chapter on Rose Wilder Lane: The American West edited by Gordon Bakken and Brenda Farrington (NY: Garland Press, 2001) contains “Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane: The Politics of a Mother-Daughter Relationship” by Anita Clair Fellman. I haven’t yet had a chance to read it, but am looking forward to it.
Best to you,
Just Ken
kgregglv@cox.net
http://classicalliberalism.blogspot.com/
I second the endorsement of The Discovery of Freedom. It is, alas, written in haste and filled with historical errors (Lane was so embarrassed by this that she refused to reissue the book), but it definitely transcends its limitations.
I also highly recommend Lane’s book The Lady and the Tycoon (out of print, but you can find it used), a collection of letters between Lane and Dupont executive Jasper Crane. Crane’s side of the correspondence is rather pedestrian, politically cautious, and a bit slow on the uptake (Isabel Paterson was much less patient with him than Lane was), but Lane’s side is brilliant, funny, and filled with sparkling quotable gems.
Also, an excellent biography of Lane is William Holtz’s Ghost in the Little House. (Despite the title, it’s about Lane’s entire life, not just about her ghost-writing her mother’s Little House books.)
Dwight, I find it sometimes useful to stress that although libertarians are against the state, they are in favour of law and governance. The latter don’t require the former, and that’s the key.
Paul and Paul,
Thanks for your useful comments. I reread Hoppe’s section on Cooperative societies, and was also gladdened a day or two later by Rothbard’s essay “Nations by consent”. Both reinforced my thinking.
People are drawn to success. What we need are some real-life examples of cooperative societies, of non-coercive governments. I wonder what it would take to produce a useful example of such in my home town?
Comments on this entry are closed.