OPPORTUNITIES UNLIMITED

I have no desire to meditate or philosophize upon the past. I have only one wish; and that is to direct our eyes toward the infinite future.

—C. F. KETTERING

A doff of the hat to “Boss Ket,” one of the all-time geniuses. He was surely one of those few, with eyes toward the “infinite future,” who themselves evolve and thus contribute to human evolution.

AN AMERICAN MIRAGE

It is only an error in judgment to make a mistake, but it shows infirmity of character to adhere to it when discovered.

—CHRISTIAN N. BOVEE

Everyone’s life is marred by numerous mistakes; to err in judgment is a trait common to all of us. Who among us has not failed in some enterprise or other? But if our shortcomings are acknowledged we can learn from them! Reflect on these two bits of wisdom:

ERUPTIONS OF TRUTH

No government ought to exist for the purpose of checking the prosperity of its people or to allow such a principle in its policy.

—EDMUND BURKE

Burke’s judgment—wise in my view—is assuredly at odds with most of the governments that have prevailed throughout history. What I wish to demonstrate is that those governments which “ought not to exist” spawn sub-governments which also should not exist. They are a bane to justice and human welfare!

WAR AND PEACE

Peace is the happy, natural state of man; war, his corruption, his disgrace.

—EDWARD THOMSON

January 24 marks an important anniversary in my life. It was on that date in 1918 that the S. S. Tuscania shoved away from the docks in Hoboken, N.J. never to return. This Cunard liner, with 2,500 American troops aboard—including me—was torpedoed and sunk in the Irish Sea 13 days later.

KAKISTOCRACY

A government. . . for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools.

—JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

Kakistocracy is a word so seldom used that one might assume the designated condition never existed. Its definition is included in only a few of the larger dictionaries: “A government by the worst men.” One of them adds: “. . . opposed to aristocracy.” And that calls to mind Jefferson’s view: “There is a natural aristocracy among men; the grounds of this are virtues and talents.”

ON SUBSIDIES AND REGULATIONS

It is hardly lack of due process for the government to regulate that which it subsidizes.

—UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT “WICKARD VS. FILBURN”

ATTUNED TO FREEDOM

Were the eye not attuned to the Sun, the Sun could not be seen by it.

—GOETHE

WEEDING ONE’S GARDEN

Doth not the common experience make this common unto us that the fattest ground bringeth forth nothing but weeds, if it not be well tilled?

—JOHN LYLY

The soils of the earth produce ever so many weeds, ranging from beggarweeds to smartweeds. And the souls of men—the minds that think and will—are no less plagued with errors galore, mental weeds that range us from the beggar to the smart aleck. Common? We all err—no living exception!

DEAR ME:

The highest reach of human science is the scientific recognition of human ignorance.

—SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON

In all of my 79 years, this is the first time I have ever written a letter to me! There are two reasons for the delay:

REFORMERS: VICTIMS OF VANITY?

Reform only yourself, for in doing that you have done everything.

—MONTAIGNE

For the past 28 years we have conducted several hundred Seminars here at FEE and around this and other nations. In each of these, I always do the concluding lecture on methodology. Assuming the participants favor the private ownership, free market, limited government way of life, what are the appropriate steps for such an achievement?