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<div id="conspiracy">
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<p>WHY AMERICANS WON'T CHOOSE FREEDOM</p>
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<p>By JACOB G. HORNBERGER</p>
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<p>All across the land there is an unusual stirring among the
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American populace. The American people are sensing that
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something is severely wrong in our nation. They see the ever-increasing taxation, regulation, bureaucracies, and police
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intrusions. And they are gradually discovering that, despite
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their right to vote, they have no effective control over any
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of this.</p>
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<p>Yet, despite this unease on the eve of America's third century
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of existence, the American people refuse to choose the only
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possible solution to America's woes: freedom--freedom through
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the constitutional elimination of the welfare state/planned
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economy way of life.</p>
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<p>Why this refusal to choose freedom? One answer lies in the
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fact that many Americans do not even realize that they are
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unfree. Having served the required twelve-year sentence in
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public schools, most Americans believe that income taxation,
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subsidies, welfare, protectionism, minimum-wage laws, and all
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of the other aspects of the welfare state/planned economy way
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of life constitute freedom.</p>
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<p>But what about those who have discovered the truth? Are there
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not many of these who still will not choose freedom?
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Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Although recognizing the
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basic immorality of the welfare state/planned economy way of
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life, many freedom devotees have chosen to devote their
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efforts to reforming it rather than eliminating it. Why? Why
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do they insist on defending a way of life which they concede
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is immoral as well as a deprivation of the freedom which they
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value so highly? Let us examine some of the reasons why these
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individuals who know better won't choose freedom.</p>
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<p>One reason is the tremendous fear which most Americans have of
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their own government. The agency of government which Americans
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fear most, of course, is the Internal Revenue Service, the
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tax-collecting arm of the United States government. A mere
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letter of inquiry from the IRS is enough to cause Americans to
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go into a cold sweat. Not that this fear is unjustified. Every
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American knows that the agents of the IRS have virtually
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unlimited power to extract, from the pockets of the citizenry,
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what they consider to be the "rightful" amount owed to the
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political authorities. As Professor Ebeling, FFF's vice-president of academic affairs, once put it on a radio talk
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show in which we were jointly participating, "If you want to
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know the ways and means of the IRS, simply study the
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operations of the KGB."</p>
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<p>But the IRS is not the only agency which inspires great fear
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in the American citizenry. I have a friend who is the
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executive vice-president of a major American bank. He told me
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that most bank presidents, although considered by others (and
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themselves) to be "high-powered" individuals, will quiver and
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quake like an autumn leaf when confronted by a banking
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regulator. In fact, the mere mention of an impending visit by
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banking regulators will send most bankers into the same
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fearful frenzy experienced by an elementary school student who
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is being sent to the principal's office.</p>
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<p>Why? What is it that causes a grown-up to have such a
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paralyzing fear of another grown-up? What causes American
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adults to cower like little children in the face of a
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bureaucrat?</p>
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<p>The answer lies in the strong and powerful government, in both
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domestic and foreign affairs, which Americans of this century
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have brought into existence. For a strong government will
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almost always result in a weak citizenry. And a weak and
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terrified citizenry can rarely be relied upon to resist
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tyranny by their own government. Instead, they will spend
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their time "flexing their muscles" vicariously through the
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"toughness" shown by their government, usually in foreign
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affairs.</p>
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<p>A second reason: Too many freedom devotees have lost hope that
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freedom can actually be achieved. And so, having convinced
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themselves that slavery in America is inevitable, they devote
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their efforts to "working within the system" rather than to
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replacing the system with freedom.</p>
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<p>A good example of this involves those church officials who
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have dedicated themselves to getting prayer into public
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schools. Few people will deny the tremendous accomplishment of
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the Founding Fathers when they separated church and state
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through the First Amendment. They realized that religious
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zealots with political power are among the most dangerous
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forces to which a society can ever be exposed. And so, the
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Founding Fathers fought for and achieved a way of life in
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which the majority could not impose, through the coercive
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power of government, religious doctrines on the rest of the
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populace.</p>
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<p>But, as every American knows, it is an entirely different
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situation with secular education. Here, as in the olden days
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with religion, children are required to be sent to
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governmentally approved institutions to learn governmentally
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approved doctrines with religious doctrine, by virtue of the
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First Amendment, being the only exception.</p>
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<p>What is the reaction of many church leaders to religion being
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excepted from the teachings in public schools? Having accepted
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the legitimacy or inevitability of state involvement in the
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field of education, they wish to empower the state authorities
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to teach religious doctrine, in addition to secular doctrine,
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to the nation's youth. In other words, instead of trying to
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place education on the same level as religion . . . instead of
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fighting for freedom of education as our Founding Fathers
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fought for freedom of religion . . . instead of calling for a
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separation of school and state as our American ancestors did
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with church and state . . . instead of rendering to God both
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religion and education . . . present-day ministers of God,
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having "thrown in the towel" with respect to educational
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liberty, now wish to render to Caesar not only education but,
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through prayer in government schools, religion as well.</p>
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<p>A third reason why many freedom devotees won't choose freedom:
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they continue to operate under the delusion that the welfare
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state/planned economy can be made to work. In fact, an
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examination of much of the literature that emanates from
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various American freedom think-tanks is absorbed with
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correcting the "waste, fraud, and abuse" of the system rather
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than replacing the system itself with freedom. Their solution
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is always the same: "The system needs reform."</p>
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<p>An example is found in the November 2, 1990, issue of The
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Backgrounder, a newsletter of The Heritage Foundation, a
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renowned, conservative think-tank based in Washington, D.C.
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Referring to the budget crisis last fall, Scott A. Hodge, a
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member of The Heritage staff, writes, "Members of Congress did
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not have the courage to cut one dollar of waste, pork, fraud,
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or unnecessary spending from the fiscal 1991 budget." Mr.
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Hodge follows up with, "There is no need for Congress to
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dismantle the 'social safety net'. . ."</p>
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<p>Mr. Hodge's argument, then, is that the welfare state--
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socialism--not only should be kept intact but also that it is
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capable of being made to operate efficiently. The utopian
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dream is that if we just elect "better" people to public
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office . . . if politicians will just do the "right" thing
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. . . if people will just give up the "waste" which they have
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been receiving, it is possible to reform and refine the system
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so that all of us can live happily ever after in socialist
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heaven.</p>
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<p>This illusion--this pipe-dream--that holds so many freedom
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devotees in its grip is one of the major obstacles to the
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achievement of freedom. But unfortunately, not only in
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America. In the Soviet Union, the attitude is exactly the
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same. If the politicians and bureaucrats will only do the
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"right" thing, the Soviet officials argue, the socialist
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system can be kept intact and made to work "correctly."</p>
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<p>Another reason that freedom devotees are inhibited from
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choosing freedom: They believe that by doing so, they will not
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have intellectual "respectability" among their fellow
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Americans. Although privately acknowledging the fundamental
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evil and immorality of the welfare state/planned economy way
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of life, they believe that calling for its elimination is too
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"extreme." Therefore, they maintain their "respectability" (or
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so they think) by advocating the continuation of the evil and
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immorality and, even more shameful, by wrapping their
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arguments in freedom rhetoric.</p>
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<p>It is not difficult, then, to see the stark contrast between
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the American Founding Fathers and our present-day freedom
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devotees. Our ancestors refused to permit the terrible,
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psychological destructiveness of fear to control their
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actions. Faced with one of the most powerful monarchs in
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history, and his equally powerful regulatory and tax-collecting minions, they nevertheless chose to pledge their
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lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in the defense of freedom--
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even though it meant fighting their own government and their
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fellow British citizens. Devoted to principle, rather than
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expediency, they had no desire to reform the mercantilist
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economic system of their own government; recognizing the evil
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and immorality of such a system, they strived to eliminate it.
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And knowing that the pursuit of right was more important than
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popular acceptance, they stood their ground for the whole
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world to see!</p>
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<p>It is that spirit of liberty which moved our American
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ancestors that is so desperately needed in our time. And when
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it finally grips the hearts and minds of the American people,
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which I am certain it will, freedom at last will be chosen.</p>
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<p>Mr. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of
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Freedom Foundation, P.O. Box 9752, Denver, CO 80209.</p>
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<p>------------------------------------------------------------
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From the March 1991 issue of FREEDOM DAILY,
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Copyright (c) 1991, The Future of Freedom Foundation,
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PO Box 9752, Denver, Colorado 80209, 303-777-3588.
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Permission granted to reprint; please give appropriate credit
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and send one copy of reprinted material to the Foundation.
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</p>
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