The Profit Of The One Is The

I Believe That My Theory Is Correct; For Whatever Be The Question Upon Which I Am Arguing, Whether It Be Religious, Philosophical, Political, Or Economical; Whether It Affects Well-being, Morality, Equality, Right, Justice, Progress, Responsibility, Property, Labor, Exchange, Capital, Wages, Taxes, Population, Credit, Or Government; At Whatever Point Of The Scientific Horizon I Start From, I Invariably Come To The Same Thing—the Solution Of The Social Problem Is In Liberty.

Society Is Composed Of Men, And Every Man Is A Free Agent. Since Man Is Free, He Can Choose; Since He Can Choose, He Can Err; Since He Can Err, He Can Suffer. I Go Further: He Must Err And He Must Suffer; For His Starting Point Is Ignorance, And In His Ignorance He Sees Before Him An Infinite Number Of Unknown Roads, All Of Which Save One Lead To Error.

Now Since Man Is Naturally Inclined To Avoid Pain - And Since Labor Is Pain In Itself - It Follows That Men Will Resort To Plunder Whenever Plunder Is Easier Than Work. History Shows This Quite Clearly. And Under These Conditions, Neither Religion Nor Morality Can Stop It. When, Then, Does Plunder Stop? It Stops When It Becomes More Painful And More Dangerous Than Labor. It Is Evident, Then, That The Proper Purpose Of Law Is To Use The Power Of Its Collective Force To Stop This Fatal Tendency To Plunder Instead Of To Work. All The Measures Of The Law Should Protect Property And Punish Plunder.

Legal Plunder Can Be Committed In An Infinite Number Of Ways; Hence, There Are An Infinite Number Of Plans For Organizing It: Tariffs, Protection, Bonuses, Subsidies, Incentives, The Progressive Income Tax, Free Education, The Right To Employment, The Right To Profit, The Right To Wages, The Right To Relief, The Right To The Tools Of Production, Interest Free Credit, Etc., Etc. And It The Aggregate Of All These Plans, In Respect To What They Have In Common, Legal Plunder, That Goes Under The Name Of Socialism.

If Every Person Has The Right To Defend - Even By Force - His Person, His Liberty, And His Property, Then It Follows That A Group Of Men Have The Right To Organize And Support A Common Force To Protect These Rights Constantly. Thus, Since An Individual Cannot Lawfully Use Force Against The Person, Liberty, Or Property Of Another Individual, Then The Common Force - For The Same Reason - Cannot Lawfully Be Used To Destroy The Person, Liberty, Or Property Of Individuals Or Groups.