You Cannot Get Even
By Hans F. Sennholz
Dr. Sennholz heads the Department of Economics at Grove City College and is a
noted writer and lecturer on monetary and economic affairs.
Government affects individual incomes by virtually every decision it makes.
Agricultural programs, veterans' benefits, health and labor and welfare
expenditures, housing and community development, federal expenditures on
education, social insurance, medicare and medicaid programs, and last but not
least, numerous regulations and controls affect the economic conditions of every
citizen. In fact, modern government has become a universal transfer agency that
utilizes the political process for distributing vast measures of economic income
and wealth. It preys on millions of victims in order to allocate valuable goods
and services to its beneficiaries. With the latter, transfer programs are so
popular that few public officials and politicians dare oppose them.
The motive powers that drive the transfer order are as varied as human design
itself. Surely, the true motives are often concealed, and a hollow pretext is
pompously placed in the front for show. And yet, man is more accountable for his
motives than for anything else. A good motive may exculpate a poor action, but a
bad motive vitiates even the finest action. Conscience is merely our own
judgment of the right and wrong of our action, and therefore can never be a safe
guide unless it is enlightened by a thorough understanding of the implications
and consequences of our actions. Without an enlightened conscience we may do
evil thoroughly and heartily.
An important spring of action for the transfer society is the desire by most
people to get even in the redistribution struggle. "I have been victimized in
the past by taxation, inflation, regulation, or other devices," so the
argument goes, "therefore I am entitled to partake in this particular benefit."
Or the time sequence may be reversed: "I'll be victimized later in life,"
pleads the college student, "and therefore I want state aid and subsidy now."
This argument is probably the most powerful pacifier of conscience. It dulls our
perception and discernment of what is evil and makes us slow to shun it. After
all, we are merely getting back "what is rightfully our own." With a curious
twist of specious deduction the modern welfare state, which continually seizes
and redistributes private property by force, is defended by the friends of
individual liberty and private property. "Man is entitled to the fruits of his
labor," they argue, "we are merely getting back that which is rightfully and
morally our own." They borrow the arguments for the private property order to
sustain the political transfer order.
Surely getting back that which is rightfully and morally our own is a principle
that is rooted in our inalienable right to our lives. It is a property right
that springs from our human rights and from the right to life itself. It is the
right to restoration of the fruits of our efforts and labors of which we are
deprived by deceit, force, or any other immoral practice. It is a specific right
to recovery or compensation from those who are wronging us or have injured us
in the past.
This right to restoration does not beget the right to commit the very immoral
act from which we seek restoration, to imitate others in acting immorally, or
to seek revenge against the trespassers or innocent bystanders. But this is
precisely what the "get-even" advisors urge us to do.
In an unfortunate automobile accident we are hurt or injured, or our vehicle
may be damaged, because of the negligence of another driver. This gives us the
right to demand restoration and compensation from the guilty party. But it does
not give us the right to seize another car parked in the neighborhood, or
return to the road and injure another driver. Or, our home is burglarized and
we suffer deplorable losses in personal wealth and memorabilia. This does not
bestow upon us the right to do likewise to others. But the "get-even" advocates
are drawing this very conclusion.
He who is desirous of "getting even" in the politics of redistribution longs to
join the army of beneficiaries who are presently preying on their victims. They
would like to get their "money back" from whomever they can find and victimize
now.
Like the victim of a burglary who becomes a burglar himself, they are searching
for other victims. But in contrast to the new burglar who may be aware of the
immorality of his actions, the "get-even" advocate openly defends his motives
while he is pursuing his political craft.
We cannot get even with those individuals who deprived us of our property in the
past. They may have long departed this life or may have fallen among the victims
themselves. We cannot get even with them by enlisting in the standing army of
redistributors. We merely perpetuate the evil by joining their forces. So we
must stand immune to the temptations of evil, regardless of what others are
doing to us. The redistribution must stop with us.
The redistributive society has victimized many millions of people through
confiscatory taxation, inflation, and regulation. Government, acting as the
political agency for coercive transfer, seized income and wealth from the more
productive members and then redistributed the spoils to its beneficiaries.
Although many millions of victims and beneficiaries were involved, which often
obscures the morality of the issue, the forced transfer took place between
certain individuals. It is true, the beneficiaries, who used political force to
obtain the benefits, cannot easily be recognized in the mass process of
transfer. But even if we could identify them, and establish a personal right to
restoration, our property has been consumed long ago. A vast army of
beneficiaries, together with their legions of government officials and civil
servants, consumed or otherwise squandered our substance. There is nothing to
retrieve from the beneficiaries who probably are poorer than ever before,
having grown weak and dependent on the transfer process.
When seen in this light, the get-even argument is nothing more than a
declaration of intention to join the redistribution forces. It may be born from
the primitive urge for revenge against government, state or society. But it is
individuals who form a government, make a state and constitute a society. By
taking revenge against some of them for the injuries suffered from the hands of
others, I am merely reinforcing the evil.
Revenge is a common passion that enslaves man's mind and clouds his vision. To
the savage it is a noble aspiration that makes him even with his enemies. In a
civilized society that is seeking peace and harmony it is a destructive force
which law seeks to suppress. But when the law itself becomes an instrument of
transfer, the primitive urge for revenge may burst forth as a demand for more
redistribution. It becomes a primary force that gives rise to new demands or, at
least, reinforces the popular demands for economic transfer. The common passion
for revenge, no matter how well concealed, undoubtedly is an important motive
power of social policy that leads a free society to its own destruction.
No wealth in the world and no political distribution of this wealth can purchase
the peace and harmony so essential to human existence. Peace and harmony can
be found only in moral elevation that reaches into every aspect of human life. A
free society is the offspring of morality that guides the actions and policies
of its members. To effect a rebirth of such a society is to revive the moral
principles that gave it birth in the beginning. It is individual rebirth and
rededication to the inexorable principles of morality that are the power and the
might. The example of great individuals is useful to lead us on the way, for
nothing is more contagious for greatness than the power of a great example.
To spearhead a rebirth of our free society let us rededicate ourselves to a new
covenant of redemption, which is a simple restatement of public morality. In the
setting of our age of economic redistribution and social conflict it may be
stated as follows:
No matter how the transfer state may victimize me, I shall seek no transfer
payments, or accept any.
I shall seek no government grants, loans or other redistributive favors, or
accept any.
I shall seek no government orders on behalf of redistribution, or accept any.
I shall seek no employment, or accept any, in the government apparatus of
redistribution.
I shall seek no favors, or accept any, from the regulatory agencies of
government.
I shall seek no protection from tariff barriers or any other institutional
restrictions of trade and commerce.
I shall seek no services from, or lend support to collective institutions that
are creatures of redistribution.
I shall seek no support from, or give support to associations that advocate or
practice coercion and restraint.
We do not know whether our great republic will survive this century. If it can
be saved, great men of conviction must lead the way—men who with religious
fervor and unbounded courage resist all transfer temptations. The heroes of
liberty are no less remarkable for what they suffer than for what they achieve.
You Cannot Get Even| The Foundation for Economic Education: The Freeman, Ideas on Liberty
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The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty - June 1978
Vol. 28 No. 6
©2007 Foundation for Economic Education. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=6015
