Description:

Humans are social creatures who need community to thrive. One reason we get so much benefit from living in society is the great diversity of skills, talents, and interests between individuals in society. If we care about preserving community, we also need to think about the unique individuals who make it up. Each person is an individual deserving of respect and dignity. The market encourages individuals to interact peaceably and build mutual trust.

In this lesson, students will watch a video about the idea of equality. Then students read and discuss an article “The Individual in Society” by Ludwig von Mises. Next students will watch and discuss the video Individualism vs. Collectivism with a short classroom activity. Lastly, students will read an article for Self Study entitled “Competition and Cooperation” by David Boaz.

 

Time Required:

45 min

 

Required Materials:

Internet connection, writing instrument 

 

Prerequisites:

Lesson 7.1 – Virtue and Entrepreneurship

Lesson 7.2 – Connected by Commerce

Lesson 7.3 - Markets and Morality

 


7.4.A – Watch and discuss the following video using the questions below to guide your discussion [10 min]:

Video:  (Learn Liberty, 3:00 min)

“According to the Declaration of Independence, we're all created equal. But Professor Aeon Skoble is not as rich as Bill Gates, as tough as Vin Diesel, or as sexy as Hugh Jackman. To Professor Skoble, the Declaration intends for us all to be treated equal before the law. Put another way, we should all have equal freedom to choose our own respective paths to happiness as long as we do not infringe on the freedoms of others.

Treating people as equals means that we should show equal respect for the choices they make. That means that, although we may disagree with others, we should respect their preferences for jobs, tv shows, music, etc... The legal system should show equal respect for persons by respecting their rights equally, not by interfering with the outcomes of people's choices. If we try to produce equality in some other fashion, we will necessarily violate people's freedom to choose.”

Discussion Questions: Equality and Respect: How I’m Equal to Hugh Jackman

1.  In what ways should we treat one another as equals?

  1. Equality refers to having equal freedom and equality in our liberty.
  2. We should all respect human rights equally which is the definition of true equality (an equal protection of our rights, including property rights).

 

2.  What is the caveat when referring to people’s freedom to act as they please?

  1. “People have freedom to do whatever they please subject to the condition that it doesn’t infringe on others’ freedoms.”

 

 

7.4.B – Read and discuss the following article using the questions below to guide your discussion [20 min]:

Article: The Individual in Society by Ludwig von Mises (FEE.org)

“Freedom and liberty always re­fer to inter-human relations. A man is free as far as he can live and get on without being at the mercy of arbitrary decisions on the part of other people. In the frame of society everybody depends upon his fellow citizens. Social man cannot become independent without forsaking all the advantages of social cooperation. The fundamental social phenomenon is the division of labor and its counterpart — human cooperation."


 

 

 


Discussion Questions: The Individual in Society

1.  What does the author mean by the statement “Experience teaches man that cooperative action is more efficient and productive than self-sufficient individuals?”

  1. The author states, “The natural conditions determining man’s life and effort are such that the division of labor increases output per unit of labor expended. These natural factors are: (1) The innate inequality of men with regard to their ability to perform various kinds of labor, and (2) the unequal distribution of the nature-given, nonhuman opportunities of production on the surface of the earth.”
  2. Due to the differences in people’s abilities to perform certain tasks, everyone is better off if they specialize and trade. When people specialize in what they are most efficient at producing and trade with others, they save time and are able to consume more goods than they were able to previously.
  3. Liberty and freedom are the conditions of man within a con­tractual society. Social cooperation under a system of private owner­ship of the means of production means that within the range of the market the individual is not bound to obey and to serve an overlord. As far as he gives and serves other people, he does so of his own accord in order to be rewarded and served by the re­ceivers. He exchanges goods and services, he does not do compulsory labor and does not pay tribute. He is certainly not independent. He depends on the other members of society. But this dependence is mutual. The buyer depends on the seller and the seller on the buyer.

 

2.  What does the author think of the statement “The workers are at the mercy of their employers?”

  • The author explains “Now, it is true that the employer has the right to fire the employee. But if he makes use of this right in order to indulge his own whims, he hurts his own interests. It is to his own disadvantage if he discharges a better man in order to hire a less efficient one.”
  • This shows that the employee is not at mercy of the employer because it is in the employer’s best interest to keep the most efficient employee’s for their business.
  • Employers and employees are free to make their own decisions, however the market has consequences for these decisions. The author uses the example of the shopkeeper being rude to customers – he is free to do so but must bear the consequences of his decision.
  • Employees are free to make choices about their work. The author uses the example of employees being able to avoid working in industries they do not morally agree with. The author explains, “Nobody is forced to go into the liquor industry or into a gun factory if his conscience objects.”

 

3.  According to Mises, what is the proper role of government for regulating economic matters?

  • Mises writes, “Government is a guarantor of liberty and is compatible with liberty only if its range is adequately restricted to the preserva­tion of economic freedom. Where there is no market economy, the best intentioned provisions of con­stitutions and laws remain a dead letter.”

 

 

 


7.4.C – Students will watch the video as an introduction to the Activity that follows [5 min]:

Video: (Learn Liberty, 3:16 min)

“To protect community and preserve the way society contributes to human flourishing, we ought to keep in mind the unique and autonomous individuals that make it up.”

Briefly discuss the following:

  1. Each person is an individual deserving of respect and dignity.
  2. We are social creatures who need community to thrive. We are members of many different communities simultaneously (family, religion, town, region, ethnicity, professions, hobbies, etc.)
  3. One reason we get so much benefit from society is that we are all so different. There is a great diversity of skills, talents, and interests between individuals in society.
  4. If we care about preserving community, we need to think about the unique individuals who make it up.

 

7.4.D – Complete the following activity about the connection between individualism and civil society [10 min]:

Activity: Who Am I?

1.  Students will write down a description of themselves based on their community as well as personal interests. Use these categories as a guide:

  • Family
  • Town/Region/Nation
  • Ethnicity
  • Religion
  • Personal Interests
  • Personal Affiliations
  • Career Ambitions
  • Hobbies
  • Sports Loyalties

 

2.  Ask students to answer questions by show of hands:

  1. Who in class wants to be a doctor? Lawyer? Engineer? Teacher?
  2. Who cheers for the New York Yankees? Miami Heat? New England Patriots? Atlanta Braves?
  3. How many of you enjoy jazz?
  4. How many of you love the Divergent Series?
  5. How is it possible for a group with such diverse preferences to live together peacefully?
    1. Mutual respect for all individuals, respect for property rights, stable rules and laws.
    2. We are unique and individual people with various hopes, aspirations, talents, etc. “Society is a manifestation of individual differences as they are all brought together.”
    3. What kinds of things make it possible for us to develop our diverse talents and interests?
      1. We generally have our basic needs met (food, clothing, shelter, etc.) thanks to the fact that we live in a country with relative economic freedom.
      2. We have the freedom to choose, this allows us to follow our own dreams for living a good life.

 

 

 

  1. What would need to happen in order for a society to be made up of people who all do the same things and live the same way with no choices?
    1. A central authority would have to grow in power over the people.
    2. People would in essence would prefer to be “taken care of” rather than to take care of themselves.
    3. This mindset leads to people voting away their rights as individuals, their freedoms, and property rights, thus giving government power and control over their individual lives.
    4. Authority figures/government usually does this by using propaganda that promises everyone security and prosperity for the “greater good.”

 

7.4.E –Read the following article as Self-Study and answer the discussion questions [15 min]:

Article: The Individual and Society by Arthur Foulkes (FEE.org).

“Society exists to serve individuals-not the other way around.”

Discussion Questions: The Individual and Society

1.  It is commonly believed the individual is in conflict with society unless the individual subordinates his or her wants and needs for the “greater good.” Do you agree?

  1. Society itself is simply made up of individuals. Without individuals, there is no society.
  2. “As Ludwig von Mises noted, “The individual lives and acts within society. But society is nothing but the combination of individuals for cooperative effort.”
  3. Ludwig von Mises goes on to explain, “…work performed under the division of labor is more productive than isolated work and man’s reason is capable of recognizing this truth.”
  4. There is no conflict between individuals and society when people deal with one another peacefully through voluntary trade.

 

2. What is the key concept that David Ricardo explained about the relationship between individuals and society?

  1. “Individuals have long understood that they can satisfy their expanding wants only through exchange and association with others. The tremendous bounty of such cooperation, famously explained by David Ricardo nearly 200 years ago, makes social interaction the individual’s greatest tool for achieving his goals.”
  2. Frédéric Bastiat explains that established societal rules and laws should support cooperation within society. Individual rights should be protected by these laws which “flows from a general law of humanity,” not just from social contracts.

 

 

 

3.  A multitude of government schemes are justified in the name of the common good—even if they benefit only a small minority. How and why does the government do this?

  1. “What such government schemes have in common is mistrust of individuals’ choices in a free-exchange environment. They seek to impose “a new vision” designed to save us from the chaos of the unregulated marketplace.”
  2. The majority of people are led to believe that someone else should make decisions for them such as how to best educate our children, what type of healthcare we need, how to save for retirement, etc.
  3. Many individuals believe that we need a central authority to “save” humanity from the “chaos” of thinking for ourselves and acting in our own rational, self-interest.
  4. Fear that this government propaganda might be true and the false comfort that we will be “taken care of” fuels this “anti-progress” political agenda. The only people who win are those who have positions and authority in the central decision-making process.

 

4.  What does Ludwig von Mises mean by the phrase, “sovereignty of the consumers?”

  1. “The beauty of voluntary exchange and the free market is that it allows consumers to peacefully allocate resources according to their own preferences.”
  2. Autonomous individuals, not government planners, should determine the needs of consumers. This never makes authoritative planners happy.
  3. “Bastiat nicely summed up the attitude of the planners when he wrote, “While mankind tends toward evil, the legislators yearn for good; while mankind advances toward darkness, the legislators aspire for enlightenment; while mankind is drawn toward vice, the legislators are attracted toward virtue. Since they have decided that this is the true state of affairs, they then demand the use of force in order to substitute their own inclinations for those of the human race.”

Lesson Recap

 
  • Each person is an individual deserving of respect and dignity.

 

  • We are social creatures who need community to thrive. We are members of many different communities simultaneously (family, religion, town, region, ethnicity, professions, hobbies, etc.)

 

  • One reason we get so much benefit from society is that we are all so different. There is a great diversity of skills, talents, and interests between individuals in society.

 

  • If we care about preserving community, we need to think about the unique individuals who make it up.

 

  • Due to the differences in people’s abilities to perform certain tasks, everyone is better off if they specialize and trade.

 

  • “The fundamental social phe­nomenon is the division of labor and its counterpart — human co­operation.”

 

  • The market encourages individuals to interact peaceably and build mutual trust.

 

Additional Resources 

Article: How Airbnb and Lyft Finally got Americans to Trust Each Other (Wired.com)

“The sharing economy has come on so quickly and powerfully that regulators and economists are still grappling to understand its impact. But one consequence is already clear: Many of these companies have us engaging in behaviors that would have seemed unthinkably foolhardy as recently as five years ago. We are hopping into strangers’ cars (Lyft, Sidecar, Uber), welcoming them into our spare rooms (Airbnb), dropping our dogs off at their houses (DogVacay, Rover), and eating food in their dining rooms (Feastly). We are letting them rent our cars (RelayRides, Getaround), our boats (Boatbound), our houses (HomeAway), and our power tools (Zilok). We are entrusting complete strangers with our most valuable possessions, our personal experiences—and our very lives. In the process, we are entering a new era of Internet-enabled intimacy”

Last modified: Friday, August 6, 2021, 12:51 PM