 In
my search for material on the tobacco habit, I have frequently come accross
references to classical liberal values. One name that pops up regularly is the
Austrian scholar Ludwig von Mises. At the risk of antagonising readers of
socialist observance, I will delve into the writings of this classical
liberalist.
I am currently reading a paperback version of Ludwig von Mises's
”Liberalism- The Classical Tradition”. With current day meddling in the lives of
every citizen, I rather quickly came across a most interesting quote. It is from
chapter 1, section 11. Let me share it with you:
Whoever is
convinced that indulgence or excessive indulgence in these poisons
[alcohol, morphine, cocaine] is pernicious is not hindered
from living abstemiously or temperately. This question cannot be treated
exclusively in reference to alcoholism, morphinism, cocainism, etc., which all
reasonable men acknowledge to be evils. For if the majority of citizens is, in
principle, conceded the right to impose its way of life upon a minority, it is
impossible to stop at prohibitions against indulgence in alcohol, morphine,
cocaine, and similar poisons. Why should not what is valid for these poisons be
valid also for nicotine, caffeine, and the like?
Why should not the state generally prescribe which foods may be indulged in and
which must be avoided because they are injurious?
.....
We see that
as soon as we surrender the principle that the state should not interfere in any
questions touching on the individual's mode of life, we end by regulating and
restricting the latter down to the smallest detail.
Ludwig von
Mises wrote those words in 1927, almost 80 years ago. How does that strike you
as being prophetic?
In one of my
early pieces on the Forces web site, I commented on the fictionAL worlds of
Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. As I saw it, we were closer to
Huxleys engineered Brave New World than to Orwells brute and sinister 1984.
But when I read
von Mises's words I realize that this scholar was much more clear sighted than
either of the two great celebrated authors.
Why not take
the time to read the whole section from von Mises's book, ”The
Limits of Governmental Activity”? Or better still,
the
whole book!
Picture your
favorite fake do gooder while considering the final words from the section on
”The Limits of Governmental Activity”:
A free man
must be able to endure it when his fellow men act and live otherwise than he
considers proper. He must free himself from the habit, just as soon as something
does not please him, of calling for the police.
(Quotes curtesey of the
Ludwig von Mises Institute)
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