The Freedom Philosophy as a Calling
Filed Under: Headline • The Calling
When the fine folks at FEE and The Freeman recently asked me if I would like to write a regular online column, I briefly hesitated, thinking through my busy schedule and ongoing writing commitments. But it was only briefly, as I knew this was something I had to make time for. The same could be said for a recent hour I spent debating the merits of capitalism with a person I’d never met, and who wasn’t especially polite about it, in the comments section of a Facebook status message of a mutual friend. As another libertarian friend said afterwards, “Every conversation is an opportunity to change the world, wherever it takes place.” Indeed.
And just a couple of days ago, as I sat in a park in New Orleans with a friend and her son, I was checking my email only to have my friend, who is also an academic, turn to me and say, “Do you ever stop thinking about work?” As I thought about how to answer that question seriously, I realized that it was based on a flawed premise: that I perceive what I do as “work.” That’s not the way it feels. I answered, “In some sense, no, I don’t ever stop thinking about ‘work.’ But what I do does not feel like work. It’s a calling. There’s a world out there that needs to be improved.”
For those of us who have imbibed the freedom philosophy, the world never looks the same as it did before. We see all kinds of problems around us, both in the way the world is and the way many people think it should be, and we feel compelled to respond to them. When people say things that we know are wrong, we are always ready to engage them (assuming that the social situation allows it to be done). Those of us who are professional intellectuals feel, perhaps, “called” in this sense, given that we have the knowledge, skills, and reputation to reach more people and perhaps make more of a difference.
The danger of the language of a “calling,” of course, is that can slide to into dogma or in-your-face obnoxiousness. We’ve all met the person who doesn’t know when to keep politics out of a social setting, and that’s not a person we want to be. And it’s also not effective in getting the message of the freedom philosophy out. Integral to this particular calling is trying our best to make our core values and behaviors conform to our preferred social order. Peaceful exchange and social tolerance are not just political principles but guides to human interaction at all levels.
So engaging in Facebook comment threads, or checking my email at the park, or agreeing to take on this column in the face of a big to-do list, or the general inability of many like-minded folks to say “no” to one more talk or paper, or another trip or conference can all be understood as part of the calling that comes from understanding the freedom philosophy and seeing its power to change the world in ways that would improve the lives of billions of our fellow humans.
Each time we talk, civilly and with an open mind, to those who see the world differently, or write a letter to the editor, and or give our time or resources to deserving organizations, we are taking up that calling to make the world a better place. For many of us, we just can’t help it. But that’s okay because we can think of nothing more important that we could do than to respond to that calling.
I hope that this column becomes a place where my calling becomes part of your calling and helps you to spread the freedom philosophy. I’ll do my best to live up to my end, and I hope you’ll do the same. One glance at where the world has gone in the last few years should tell you that we need the freedom philosophy more than ever.
Comment by Aeon J. Skoble on 5 November 2009:
Steve-congrats and best wishes on this undertaking. I will try to keep up my end!
Comment by Karen Kwiatkowski on 5 November 2009:
Thank you for this article, those past and those to come. The idea of a calling makes sense, and between the change demanded by people in words (in 2008) and the continued sense of debilitation many Americans have personally and as citizens — ideas on liberty have more fertile ground than in any other time since I’ve known… Thank you!
Comment by Jasmin Guenette on 5 November 2009:
That’s great Steve, congrats!
Comment by OldDog on 5 November 2009:
Steve,
You will be pleased to know your very first letter here had a tremendous affect on me, as my mind was imbibed with the freedom philosophy years ago and turned me into a misanthropic curmudgeon.
Although I have been advised many times by many people to tone it down, the inner rage from watching my beloved country destruct has turned a very creditable calling into a living nightmare. Whether fate, clarity of content, or both, I have suddenly realized that confrontations with cognitive dissonant socialist will never bear nourishing fruit, but only increase my feeling of intellectual impotence. A very sincere thank you from OldDog at ANATIONBEGUILED.COM
Comment by Betty on 5 November 2009:
Old Dog, I echo your brand of thanks. I learned to love Liberty decades ago, then became disenchanted in the face of apathy and outright lies, then became almost totally disengaged myself. Now I regret that and step back in, somewhat shamefacedly.
Thanks Steven, for recognizing your calling, and for teaching others.
Comment by Leslie Marsh on 5 November 2009:
Your existential commitment to philosophical reflection is most admirable. It’s puzzling (and perverse in my view) that so many folk within academia see what they do as merely a job (though they don’t admit it). Of course, they do have a preferred view of themselves in terms of social status, i.e. “intellectuals” and more often than not are of a uniform and shallow cast of ideological mind.
Comment by steve on 5 November 2009:
“One glance at where the world has gone in the last few years should tell you that we need the freedom philosophy more than ever.”
Perhaps my reading of this quote is uncharitable, but I am not so pessimistic. I think the world in large part has been going from less free to more free. For me, little more evidence is needed for this then the rising living standards. Statist economies just don’t prosper. Granted, the U.S., parts of Europe and some other places are bucking this trend, but the world as a whole is improving.
Perhaps you are refering to the financial crisis in particular. The U.S. fiat dollar seems to be losing its position. To be replaced by what? Hard to say, but I consider the fall of yet another statist structure an opportunity for improvement.
Having said all that I couldn’t agree more with the ultimate conclusion. “…we need the freedom philosophy more than ever.”
As far as arguing with statists, I would suggest it is not as bad as it seems. Granted people rarely admit they are wrong. What they do when convinced is simply change their position in later arguments and pretend that is what they always thought. This is trivially wasy for the average person, maybe not so much for a public figure with a verifiable record.
Comment by Steve Horwitz on 5 November 2009:
Steve:
I actually agree with you. I think the world is, overall, a better place than it was a generation ago. Certainly our standard of living is better. And in a number of ways we are freer, certainly than decades ago. But both the intellectual and policy reaction to the recession is what concerns me. Ideas I thought were dead and buried have arisen zombie-like, and policymakers are falling all over themselves to pass policies that have long been discredited.
I think the forces of creativity and progress will win out, but we’ve lost ground and the result is that our children and grandchildren will not be AS better off than us as they could have been.
Comment by Winton Bates on 5 November 2009:
A lot of non-economists would think it paradoxical that it is possible for economists to think of their work as a calling. But I expect that there is a long tradition of this, since Adam Smith.
I sometimes find myself trying to explain that some aspects of my work were so interesting that they have become a hobby.
Comment by Sara F on 5 November 2009:
Nicely written Steve! I have bookmarked and will be keeping up!
Comment by Atherton-Bloxham on 5 November 2009:
Congratulations to both yourself and to FEE. Come to think of it, it is a calling…and for me it is “just” a hobby. Originally, while in college, around 1959 0r 60 I attended a FEE seminar and there was no turning back. I was hooked.
Definitely looking forward to your words of wisdom!
Lynn Atherton-Bloxham
Comment by Andrew Lynch on 5 November 2009:
Interesting, I’m in the middle of the utter disillusionment and “misanthropic curmudgeon” period Betty and OldDog refer to. I don’t like being in that place at all. It’s been only five years since I started (by accident) tuning my brain to understand classical liberalism and its associated economic principles — the more I learn, the more transparent to me are the threats to liberty here and in England, to name a few places.
Another poster here says that there are more freedoms now than before, but I either don’t see that (hate crime legislation, the ever-growing strength of the taxation regime, the industrial regulatory complex, prosecutorial misconduct, etc.) or I am instead fascinated by and fearful of what’s COMING, a la Hayek’s exquisite examinations of liberal deterioration over multiple generations.
I hear what Steve is saying and am embarrassed that I allow myself to get into flame wars with complete strangers on the internet. When I have productive conversations with same, it’s like a stimulating conversation rather than a dogmatic contest of wills. I will strive to do better, but I’m not throwing away my t-shirt that says “Stop taking my wages to pay for your ideals.”
Comment by Marsha Familaro Enright on 9 November 2009:
Steve,
I especially applaud your efforts to embody “peaceful exchange and tolerance” at all levels of interaction – the embodiment of principles is usually much more persuasive than the arguments alone. Congratulations on a wonderful article.
Pingback by When work isn’t work « Those OnBoard on 13 November 2009:
[...] said than done. Nevertheless, that is my goal. I want to be able to say what this guy said in an article: A couple of days ago, as I sat in a park in New Orleans with a friend and her son, I was checking [...]