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Show Theaper That Dares ToTake CLICHES OF SOCIALISM Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., Irvington-o- n Hudson, New York When property, a free A Stand November 4, 1976 The Utah Independent Page 9 .wou d automatically and mediately go to work. First, the hgh price, with promises of exceptional profit, would entice others to grow tomatoes; and even more important, it would miraculously lead to the development of strains. In the shortest possible time, there would be tomatoes galore, perhaps at a dollar per bushel within the reach of all. For contrast, imagine the other extreme: A law to keep the price at its old level. What would be the probable results? At that price (where competition had compressed profits to their lowest possible level) there would be little incentive for the new tomato growers to enter the field. And, thus, favoritism instead of prices would necessarily determine the allocation of the reduced supply of tomatoes. It is conceivable that the hard feelings generated by such a system of allocation could even cause the remaining tomato growers to get into some less emotional business; tomatoes could even become extinct! of private market, limited devotee states his principles government is he inevitably confronted position, a with barrage of socialistic cliches. Failure to answer these has effectively silenced many a spokesman for freedom. Here are suggested answers of the most persistent of the These are not Cliches of Socialism. the only answers or even the best possible answers; but they may help you or others to develop better explanations of the ideas on liberty that are the only effective displacement for the empty promises of socialism. blight-resista- The free market freedom in exchange, with prices freely res- ponsive to changing supply and demand is, in fact, an enormous computer, far superior to any electronic computer man has ever devised, or ever will. Data from all over the world, of the most varied and complex nature only fragments of which any one man or set of men can even be aware of, let alone assemble and feed into it are automatically and quickly processed, answers coming out as prices. These prices are, in effect, stop and go signals which clearly enterprisers: say to all would-b- e this Get into activity at once, the supply is comparatively short and the demand is comparatively heavy" or Get out of this activity now, the supply is comparatively bountiful and the demand is com- - nt This fantastic computer free market and are tax-pai- d in para tively negligible. wasting It makes no difference what storage surpluses which is service illustrate or used to good frightened, rather than pleased us. how this marvelous, impersonal The signals which emerge computer works. Mowing lawns from the computer will be useful or operating a machine tool would relative to how accurately the data do, as would a bag of wheat or a fed into it reflect the supply-ste- el casting or a money loan or demand situations of all people on this earth. A socialistic sentiment, let us say, are such as disapproval of those who charge all the traffic will bear, tends to set in motion distortions of the data. How? Economically unsound sentiments feed the fires of government controls. Instead of an automatic computer, the as- tounding services of which are for free, we get a bureaucracy attempting an impossible task of data collection at a cost of many billions of dollars annually. And, eventually, well get no tomatoes! When all the ramifications are considered,' the seller who refuses to charge all the traffic will bear" is rendering us a positive disservice, He is failing to allocate scarce resources to the most desired uses, as you and I determine them by our buying or abstention, dined to think unfavorably of these growers: Why, theyre Yet these robbers. highway fortunate few are only adhering closely to the computers instruc- tions; they are behaving precisely as you and I act when we accept an increase in our wages. This is splendid! Assuming the market to be free, what would happen in this situation? Several corrective forces TURNING SUCCESS INTO FAILURE Leonard . E Read A bell boy in a large hotel, because of his friendly and helpful manners and appreciative responses, so the story goes, got tips two or three times bigger than the other bell boys. He was a saver and soon became rich. Certainly he didnt do it at the expense of the other bell boys, and since the tips were freely given he didnt exploit the guests. But when businesses big or small, nations big or small, in like manner become rich the charge is always made that they did it at the expense of others. And then it is said that they should be penalized for doing so well in order to reward those who did less well. But this amounts to penalizing those who succeed by serving best and subsidizing those whose services and products are least satisfactory. Since there will always be more nonsuccesses than successes, the politicians will always seek to serve the many and government ends up instituting as a way of life and becomes a controlling factor in everyones life. We should know, because thats where we now are, complaining about the way things are done, hostile towards successes and encouraging -- J. Keener Kahn non-succe- ss non-succes- PLEASEI In a letter to the Baltimore News American, (Maryland) which appeared on August IS, Sheila Waters appealed for some honest reporting about - the situation. Daily examples of deliberate distortions and half truths are carried in the headlines of the world's newspapers and radio and television networks, she wrote. The initial feelings of unease which assailed the people of Rhodesia and their friends abroad have now turned to anger at the perpetrators of these attempts to undermine the morale of Rhodesia and its supporters. s. Readers comments and questions are welcome. Please write us at The American Way Features, P.O. Box 990, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee 37863..- - -- - NO RELATIONSHIP TO REAL SITUATION Many of the photographs and press reports which have been sent to Rhodesians by their friends in other countries bear no relationship whatever to die real situation in Rhodesia. In fact, some of the photographs and films were not even taken in Rhodesia. Instead these journalists find themselves in a country where they can travel safely with no fears of bomb explosions. They can walk through the cities at night with no fear of being mugged. They can spend a day in the country and watch the soil being tilled and the crops gathered. They can go to restaurants and a nightclub and pay less for better food than many other countries in the world, and they do not find sandbags or steel shutters over their chosen venue, nor are they searched before entering. They find black and white Rhodesians mingling peacefully together and carrying on with their jobs as they have done for many years. They find that there are sporting events, theatres, cinemas, horse racing and many other facets of entertainment available to them as they would elsewhere. They do sec troops coming and going from their barracks, because there is an antiterrorist war being waged on the Rhodesian borders, and there are shortages of things like razor blades, black pepper, light bulbs and the more exotic foods and toiletries. We do not deny that Rhodesians are going through difficult times difficult but not drastic and compared with most countries in the world today Rhodesians have much to be thankful for, and that goes for South Africa as well. day-to-d- ay NO OPTION lan Smith, wrote Sheila . SOVIETS INCREASE FORCES IN EUROPE Rhodesian its permitted, the data fed into the computerare made inaccurate; and when this happens, the signals it gives must to that extent be erroneous. This explains why we have had huge quantities of wheat, butter, cotton, and other produce can sell their small supply for two dollars per pound and they do! Salad lovers who cannot afford to pay this exorbitant price are in- - REPORT, Scores of journalists from all over the world have descended upon Rhodesia and, believe it or not, are hard put to find enough to do or see. There are no massacres and bloodbaths, there are no massive terrorist force build-up- s, there is no panic or hysteris, and there are no queues of people leaving the the country. pricing presupposes freedom in exchange. Whenever price or wage or production controls HONEST Waters, has no option but to refuse to hand over the country. For if he did, it would not only be the whites that suffered, but the blacks as well. And more so as the two African National Council parties cant agree now. If the country was handed over to either one party it would be a blood bath. Rhodesians can share their country and the ruling thereof..." Sheila Waters concluded by saying, I have lived and worked in Bv Paul Scott increases in Washington: manpower and the modernization of weapons in the Soviet ground and air forces in Central and Eastern Europe are causing deep new concern and some puzzlement among North American Treaty pro-Mosc- and military Organization diplomatic officials. According to their latest intelligence estimates, the Russians since the signing of the Helsinki Accord in 1975 have deployed 1,000 combat aircraft, 700 helicopters, 3,000 tanks, and 4,000 armored personnel carriers in the region in addition to weapons systems and manpower already there. of This mysterious uild-u- p forces in this strategic region has sharpened the anxiety of these NATO officials over the ability of Western European governments to deter future Soviet political pressure backed by superior military ow T-7- force. AIR-POWE- Their uneasiness over the new Soviet military strength and intentions is exacerbated by U.S. passivity over the establishment of a major new Russian military base in Angola in southern Africa and political and economic disunity within the European Economic Community. While the U.S. and Russia are at approximately parity in strategic nuclear striking power, Soviet conventional military strength in Europe now outweighs NATOs to a greater degree than at any time since the Western alliance came into existence in 1950. Soviet military deployment in Central and Eastern Europe, according to the latest U.S. intelligence analysis, includes 1.1 million troops, 36,500 tanks, 3,825 combat aircraft, and more than 1 ,000 medium range, mobile ballistic missiles. forces These are now organized, equipped, and trained attack for massive rather than for any defensive purposes, according to the confidential U.S. intelligence analysis now circulating among NATO officials. The latest Soviet order of battle for Central Europe calls for the overrunning of West Germany within 48 hours. THE THREE ELEMENTS The three elements of the Soviet buildup of greatest concern in NATO are the expansion of ground and air manpower, the rapid modernization of weapons pre-empti- systems, blackmail against weaker members of NATO. Another possibility being considered by U.S. intelligence officials is that the Russians plan to use the buildup to influence the creation of a more government in Yugoslavia on the death of the aging President Tito. The most conservative Western estimate is that the Soviet Union has added 100,000 men to its forces in Central Europe during the Some intelligence past year. authorities put the figure as high as 200 ,000 with most agreeing that the increase is approximately 150,000. The Soviet ground forces are tank now receiving the new 2 armed with a 122 millimeter gun, the heaviest in any main battle tank now in service in the world. The number of Soviet tanks assigned to motorized rifle divisions in Central Europe has been increased from around 200 to 170. R INCREASING THEIR A graphic illustration of the increased military strike capacity in the Soviet Air Force in Central Europe is the 16th Frontal Aviation Army. fighter-bomb- er two The 1 divisions of the 6th have received infighter-bomber- s, modern cluding the SU-1- 7 or FITTER, as it is known to NATO, and the even SU-1- 9 more sophisticated FENCER. Three variants of the MIG-2- 3, the best Soviet interceptor, have been deployed. One of these is a new fighter-bombe- r. The Soviets have developed an effective offensive tactical air force in Central Europe by extensive stockpiling of material close to the probable theater of operation. In fact, there is now evidence that forward Soviet stockpiles have been augmented to the point that the Russians could launch a military blitz against NATO forces in Central Europe without general mobilization and sustain it for at least a week. The increased Soviet manpower and the forward stockpiling of supplies puts real teeth into the Soviets new doctrine of preemptive operations. The buildup gives the Russians a first strike capability. It is developments like these and the concerns of NATO officials on how to meet them that President Ford and Democratic nominee Presidential Jimmy Carter should be discussing and debating when it comes to questions about Eastern Europe. NOTE. Perhaps the most pessimistic assessment of NATO strength was given recently by Brig. General Robert Close of Belgiim, who in a dissertation given at the NATO Defense College in Rome, said the Soviet U nion could occupy West Germany in 48 hours. and positioning ve the forward of arms and equipment. The latter is taken here as a sign that the Russians are preparing for some type of a military move in the not too distant future or are planning to use their military superiority for political Rhodesia and South Africa. I speak several African dialects, and am endeavouring to give readers a true and unbiased report on those countries as well as how the black and white people view the situation in Southern Africa. We must have some honest reporting. . You cant build a reputation on what you intended to do. Its not the hours you but what you put in put in, the hours that counts. |