Lessons for Winning Liberty in a World of Statism

Richard Ebeling emails:

Dear Bob,

I have a new article on the news and commentary website, "EpicTimes," on "Lessons for Winning Liberty in a World of Statism."

As a new year of Washington politics starts, once more everything seems in the direction of more and bigger government. This is only the case if we focus on the short-run of everyday politics and policy-making.

But thinking short-run is not how we got in this situation. Well over one hundred years ago, the socialists of that time, living in a Western world still predominantly guided by fairly classical liberal ideas and generally free market economics, took the long-run view. And we should learn from them, if we are to move society in the direction of liberty.

What fostered their determination to fight for their ideas? First, they believed fervently in the moral rightness of their collectivist ideal. Second, they ignored the twists and turns of daily politics, and focused on changing the climate of opinion in the longer-run.

And, third, while preaching collectivism, they practiced a practical individualism in the sense that they intuitively understood that the world would change only if they changed people's thinking, one mind at at time.

If friends of freedom are to succeed, we, too, must believe fully in the morality of individual rights and the ethics of capitalism. We, too, must keep our eye on the long-run horizon of working for the society of liberty-to-come.

And, finally, we, too, must have the understanding and patience to appreciate that change for the better requires persuasively influencing people, one person at a time -- the end result of which can be a change in the climate of opinion in the direction of a freer society for us and our children looking to the years and decades ahead.

After all, the collectivists have had a century to demonstrate that wherever their ideas triumph in any of its forms, the results are poverty, stagnation, corruption, tyranny, and plunder. It is time for liberty's hour to be restored, if we only will place our minds to the task.

http://www.epictimes.com/richardebeling/2015/01/lessons-for-winning-liberty-in-a-world-of-statism/

Best,
Richard