The Miracle of Freedom
Page 31
We also recognize that the game of “What If?” can be risky. Our conclusions about what might have been may not have hit the mark.
But in the end, we stand by these assertions: The history of the world has been shaped in critical ways by these major events. This shaping has allowed, in just the last few centuries, the aberration that is the modern West, permitting a tiny sliver of all of mankind to participate in the blessings of freedom that we enjoy today.
The Miracle of Freedom
This book has also made the bold assertion that the existence of freedom is a miracle.
Whether you agree or not with that statement may depend on how you answer this fundamental question: What is the natural state of mankind?
What is more natural: Assyrian, Mongol, and Third Reich empires, with their utter brutality and total disregard for individual freedom, or the fact that today many around the world enjoy the extraordinarily rare blessings of living under democratic governments?
What is more natural: oppression of the masses under the hand of tyrants or the fact that many now live under constitutions that guarantee a wide array of individual rights?
If democratic governments are the natural order of men, then why didn’t any such governments develop at any other time or place? Why is it that, as Yale professor Robert Dahl has pointed out, even in our modern world, there are only twenty-two nations with a democracy older than fifty years?2
In considering this subject, it might help to ask a more specific question: Is freedom the rule or the exception?
What does history prove?
Has it always been universally understood that the people of a nation have the right to form the type of government that they choose? Has it been universally accepted that the citizens of a nation have the right to choose who will make and enforce their laws?
Has it been understood that all people are born with certain fundamental rights, that those rights include the right to life, personal liberty, and the fruits of one’s labor? Has it always been understood that these rights are inherent and unalienable and that they come from God?
Has equality of all been the norm? Is it ordinary to find governments dedicated to assuring justice?
Historically, such attitudes are rare to the point of being almost nonexistent.
For most of human history, the vast majority of people have been without any hope of freedom. For most of human history, people have been ruled by those with more clout, more swords, better guns, stronger armies, the greatest wealth. For most of human history, the order of things has been survival of the fittest, the weak being trampled while the government looks on.
As we have previously noted, in the early half of the nineteenth century, Frederic Bastiat, in his book entitled The Law, pointed out that it is injustice “that has an existence of its own.”3
Even the briefest look at history indicates that this is true. Injustice fills the hearts of men. Injustice and oppression are the natural way of things.
In order for freedom and democracy to survive, injustice must be defeated. It will not simply disappear. It must be cast aside.
And that is exactly what the West accomplished. Over many centuries, at great cost and in fits and spurts, the West purged injustice and laid claim to democracy.
Are We Strong Enough?
If it is true that the existence of freedom is a miracle, then billions of people are living a miracle today. We are living a life that the vast majority of the earth’s historical inhabitants could not have imagined, a life they never could have hoped to enjoy.
Do we have proper appreciation of that fact?
Earlier in this book, we quoted Professor Walter Williams’s assertion that those who enjoy freedom are, in fact, a “tiny portion” of those who have lived on this earth. He then postulated that some future historian might view the era in which we live as a “historical curiosity.” Note the rest of Walter Williams’s observation about the fragile nature of democracy: “That historian might also observe that the curiosity was only a temporary phenomenon and mankind reverted back to the traditional state of affairs—arbitrary control and abuse.”4
Mr. Williams makes a frightening point. Is it possible that this Golden Age of freedom might be viewed in future ages as nothing more than a curious aberration?
If the natural condition of mankind is the absence of freedom, is it possible that all humankind might one day revert back to tyranny?
• • •
Several years ago, one of us had the opportunity to work with Russian military officers in verifying certain requirements of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. This was about ten years after the Berlin Wall had come down, a chaotic and uncertain decade for all the nations that had been members of the former Soviet Union. During this time, the author had the privilege of getting to know some of the Russian military officers on a more personal basis.
At one time, a group of Russian officers were visiting a U.S. military base. After verifying some of the capabilities of the aircraft on the base, the Russian officers took a tour of the local community, met with city leaders, and then went shopping at a local mall.
Late in the afternoon, this small group of Russian officers and their U.S. escorts were on their way back to the military base. Watching the group, the author couldn’t help but notice the rather solemn demeanor of one of the Russian officers. This led to a short, and very guarded, conversation regarding the relative benefits and risks of democratic governments.
At the conclusion of the conversation, this Russian gestured around him. “All of my life, I have been lied to,” he said.
The author remained silent as the Texas landscape slid by.
“This thing,” the Russian said in wonder.
Though he didn’t elaborate, the American knew instantly what he meant.
The Russian gestured again to the wonder all around him: the pleasant homes; the constant flow of clean water; the dependable sources of energy; the cars; the free press; the ability of the citizens to gather and speak and write what they wanted; the ability of the citizens to trust that though they may not agree with the outcome, their elections were free and fair; the fact that one did not need to be someone or know someone in order to succeed; the fact that one did not need to be a member of a certain party, or to not be a member of a certain religion, in order to avoid persecution; the fact that Americans did not fear a knock on the door at night; the fact that most Americans had great hopes for their children and their future—these are what the Russian officer meant by this thing.
“I don’t know if my people want this enough,” he concluded. “I don’t know if we are willing to pay the price to claim these . . .” Here he struggled for the right word. “These privileges,” he finally said.
Time proved that the Russian officer was prescient, for he showed a deep understanding of his people and the struggles that lay ahead for them. But the same question could be asked of any people in this day.
Do we want these things? Will we still work to claim these blessings? Will we fight to preserve the miracle of freedom that we enjoy today?
In fact, could the answer to these questions be the thing upon which the future of the entire world depends?
Notes
^1. Sowell, Applied Economics, 31; emphasis added.
^2. See Dahl, How Democratic, 43.
^3. Bastiat, Law, 25.
^4. Ibid., vi.
Bibliography
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Chapter 1 Two Gods at War
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Chapter 3 Miracle at the Bridge
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Chapter 7 The Battle of Britain
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Conclusion
Bastiat, Frederic. The Law. Irvington-on-Hudson: Foundation for Economic Education, 1998.
Dahl, Robert A. How Democratic Is the American Constitution? New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
Sowell, Thomas. Applied Economics. New York: Basic Books, 2004.