The Lesson Of 鈥淚, Pencil鈥?An Essay On Economic Freedom For The Ages

The Lesson Of 鈥淚, Pencil鈥?An Essay On Economic Freedom For The Ages

As a young college student studying economics in the 1960鈥檚 I was exposed to the writings and philosophy of Leonard Read while researching a paper on Adam Smith鈥檚 enlightened principle of the 鈥淚nvisible Hand鈥? Mr. Read had founded the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in 1948. As I conducted my sophomore research I noted that the thoughts and articles of Leonard Read were inevitably intertwined with the ideas of the capitalist pioneer Mr. Smith. At that time I stumbled upon an essay that Mr. Read had first published in 1958. The title of the piece was 鈥淚, Pencil鈥? It was so stunningly logical and powerful in its suppositions that I made an unusual decision for an impoverished student of that time, I had the article copied and I have saved it to this very day. Any student of the origins of capitalist thought, as presented by Adam Smith know that the 鈥淚nvisible Hand鈥?is the genesis of free market activity. People, acting alone, or collectively, make decisions to produce goods or services that serve their best personal interest. The fact that others may benefit from this productivity is not the primary reason to undertake such activity.

Capitalists seek to make a profit from their endeavors, and in so doing, others may benefit. Leonard Read was profoundly an acolyte of Smith, and other great free market thinkers like Frederick Hayek. He believed that free men, working in pursuit of their own best interest would provide more benefit to society that centrally planned economic strategies. Free men, working in a system that honors private property rights, rule of law, and maximum amounts of individual freedom will always produce a quality of life superior to any that can be generated from leaden socialist states. Every elementary school student should be exposed to the wonderful story, the clarity of thought, and the life鈥檚 lesson that is contained in the few paragraphs of 鈥淚, Pencil鈥? For century鈥檚 do-gooders, social planners, utopians and nihilists have presumed that they can, through centrally planned state enterprises, prescribe a path to a fairer, more perfect distribution of wealth.

It has never been accomplished, nor will it ever be. The inability to pick winners and losers, gather all of the knowledge necessary to administer programs from distant power centers and thwarting by decree the human desire to be free and work in self-interest precludes socialism from ever succeeding. Many years ago I was working in Germany and had the chance to visit Communist East Berlin. A wall had to be erected to keep the East Berliners 鈥淚N鈥? The simple crossing at Checkpoint Charlie was a shock. The western side of the wall was vibrant, bustling, joyful, and free. The journey over the border into East Germany was to a primitive land by comparison. People walked with heads down, drawn faces, gaunt. There was no public life. Stores were empty. The ubiquitous little two-cylinder Trabant cars, whining and belching smoke stood in stark contrast to the BMW鈥檚, Porsche鈥檚 and Mercedes Benz鈥檚 so common on the streets of West Berlin. A simple wall. On one side was a capitalist free state. On the other was an oppressive socialist militarist gulag.

Today is the perfect day to re-study Milton Freidman, Frederick Hayek, Adam Smith, the Founding Fathers, and read Leonard Read鈥檚, 鈥淚, Pencil鈥? Today, a significant number of us do not revere and protect the principals of freedom that so many have fought and died for. The opportunities that each of us enjoy are being wrenched away by a well-meaning, but completely wrongheaded group of central planners who are not willing to study and learn the lessons of history. Author's Bio: Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money. After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance. Please Register or Login to post new comment. Why should you seek treatment from the best Burnaby dentist? Is RV College of Architecture better than BMS College of Architecture?

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