Different Yardsticks

by Hans F. Sennholz

Dr. Sennholz is Professor of Economics at Grove City College, Pennsylvania. He is the author of several books and numerous articles, many of which have appeared in The Freeman. He is a trustee of FEE and a regular seminar lecturer. His article was first published in December 1956, but is an ever-timely caution concerning the distinction between personal and political behavior. Reprinted in The Freedom Philosophy,The Foundation for Economic Education: Irvington on Hudson NY, pp. 115-117. See also Two Yardsticks of Morality. Portuguese translation.

The Christian law of neighborly love is an unbending rule of individual conduct, a rule without flexibility or loopholes for perverting interpretation. It is a basic maxim for all social cooperation and peaceful human coexistence. Indeed, it is an indispensable cornerstone of every civilization.

And yet we have been unwittingly and gradually chiseling away its shape and strength until it has become a small stump that no longer is capable of supporting social life and interhuman relations.

The law of love still underlies most of our direct man-to-man relations. In our family lives we practice, or at least endeavor to practice, this commandment. In our direct relations with our neighbor we inflict no harm, or at least endeavor to inflict no harm, on him and his family. A friendly neighborly relationship is still more frequent than a malicious one. In all our social contacts, be they in our economic associations or any other casual acquaintance, we basically respect our fellow man's rights and liberty.

But we are different men as soon as we take part in the body politic. Here there is no room for the law of neighborly love. Acting in political concert we act in a way no conscientious man would dream of acting in direct interhuman relations. We leave no room for God in our political lives.

Take the following examples:

As individuals we do not think of exacting, through violence or threat of violence, any part of our neighbor's wealth or income; but in our political lives we feel free to exact most of his income through heavy tax levies and control his wealth through a multiplicity of economic regulations.

As parents we do not think of coercing our neighbor to contribute funds to the education of our children; as members of the body politic we resort to taxation in order to coerce him to contribute to our children's education so that they may have "free public education" and we may be "freed" from all or part of our own obligations.

We do not think of envying and pilfering our neighbor of his savings, his pension, and income from a life insurance policy; but as political beings we shatter their values through government policies of inflation and monetary depreciation.

We do not think of begrudging his widow and orphans their inheritance and do not coerce them to institute us as their coheirs; as members of the body politic we may force them to turn over half or more of their inheritance to us.

Two Different Yardsticks

As individuals we do not think of coercing our fellow men in other parts of the Union to help us in our local economic endeavors; as political beings we coerce them to assist us in our own selfish ends through Federal aid and other government contributions.

If evil men were to encroach upon our neighbor and extort all or part of his property or income, or in any other way oppress him, we courageously may come to his assistance. If he should hurt or even kill one of his transgressors, we may acquit him from criminal guilt for having acted in self-defense.

If he should hurt or kill our own "duly authorized representative" who was empowered to exact a part of our neighbor's income or "control" his wealth for our own selfish ends, we would condemn him and our wrath and revenge would thrust him into penitentiaries or death chambers.

We measure our deeds and actions with two different yardsticks of morality. We are quick and severe in the condemnation of the misdeeds our neighbor commits. But we fail to judge at all or at least with the same severity our own actions through the body politic.

We condemn a neighbor for deceit, theft, robbery, and other crimes against his fellow men; but we fail to judge ourselves for confiscatory taxation, nationalization, and seizures of private industries by government, our political instrument.

Two Souls in Our Breasts

We condemn a man for his disregard of promises, contracts, and agreements and endeavor to hold him to his contractual obligations through court action and other legal means at our disposal.

But we readily acquiesce in government policies that disregard promises, or tear up official charters and international agreements.

We may even sympathize with governments conducting such lawless policies and condemn those who are hurt and finally act in self-defense.

Indeed there are two souls in our breasts, one that seeks and fears God, the other that denies the very presence of God. Man has paid and is still paying a tremendous price for his rejection of the Christian law of neighborly love in the ever-expanding sphere of political action. The price is paid in the shape of slavery, war, and disaster.