Our Job Is to Build Fires in the Darkness
I have four children, so I think often about what I ought to be doing to make a world a better place before I shuffle off this mortal coil. When engaging in these sorts of speculations it quickly becomes clear that we are only fundamentally in control of ourselves, and ourselves alone. We cannot force other people to do what we want them to do. As the ancient Christian martyrs showed, not even the threat of death can force others to believe or do that which they do not wish to do. So, on our own, we can do little other than simply that which is right, regardless of whether or not other people are likely to follow our lead.
We can certainly try to convince others of what is right and what is good. This is true of the what the saints did, and it is true in parenting and leadership in general. This is true of many facets of life such as family, Church, and community.
It is also true within our own intellectual movement that seeks to preserve human freedom—and to preserve the blessings of that freedom. We seek to show others the value of our cause.
This, of course, is exactly what the great minds of our movement have done. Great scholars and spokesmen like Ludwig von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, Murray Rothbard, Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell, and others, have spent their lives trying to convince others of what is right and good.
In many ways, they have succeeded.
It is true that many Americans—one survey says one-third of them—have a positive view of socialism. But, that same survey says that more than a half of Americans have a negative view of socialism, while more than half say they have a positive view of capitalism.
Considering the relentless anti-capitalist and anti-freedom propaganda one receives through more than a dozen years of formal schooling, followed by years of exposure to anti-capitalist media and ar
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
