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| The "Good News" (Gospel) > Archives > Thoughts on Liberty > Coercion and production |
Coercion and productionOctober 30, 1980
When a man is forced by another man (or ruler) to perform a task, productive or otherwise, he will do so only to relieve hunger pangs, to avoid beating or torture, and possibiy to provide the absolute essentials for his family. He will do no more. He will exert no more effort than is necessary so to live. He will show no creativity to reach the master’s goals. For such reasons, life in coercive societies is always a struggle for minimum existence. because such a society always lives hour by hour or day by day, hand-to-mouth. It cannot plan ahead and is vulnerable to famine and pestilence. When these strike, history suggests that the master will discover an enemy and send the servants off to war.
Speaking of the rights of freedom and property, may be little more than a philosophical way of stating that such is the nature of man, a recognition of reality, of truth. It is a recognition that free men are most productive, that forced men will not be creative. It is a recognition that human beings, when pushed to certain limits, will resist passively, and, when pushed to other limits, will resist actively. Given these limits as being part of truth, of reality, one can say that these limit points are established by God,who is the source of truth. That which is God-ordained is seen as a natural right. In whatever way these facts are described--philosophically, religiously, economically, or politically— their truth does not change. What is, is.
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