Thank you very much, Chip and Mark and Joanne. Congratulations to George Guilder on winning an award that bears the name of our founder, Leonard E. Read. His famous essay, I, Pencil, was referred to. And I'm happy to say that at the FEE booth, we have lots of copies if you haven't read that classic essay first published in 1958.

I know that Mark was understandably disappointed that the conference had to be moved from Caesar's Palace to Planet Hollywood. How fitting it would have been to discuss parallels with Rome in a place named for an ancient Roman who helped to bring down the republic.

But the more I thought about it, the more apparent it was that the change in venue couldn't have been planned better. In many ways, Rome in its latter days looked a lot like Hollywood today. Think about - decadents, wild parties, drunken spectacles, gratuitous sex and violence, celebration of stupidity, servile celebrations of those in power sucking up to foreign barbarians. A place so warped that it must have seemed, to decent people, like it was another planet.

So here we are at Planet Hollywood. I think it's perfect.

Please take note of this incisive quote from the Roman historian, Livy, two thousand years ago, around the time of the birth of Christ. It was just a generation or so after the centuries-old Roman Republic had crumbled and given way to dictatorship. Here are Livy's words. "There is an exceptionally beneficial and fruitful advantage to be derived from the study of the past. There you see set in the clear light of historical truth examples of every possible type. From these, you can select for yourself and for your country what to imitate and also what as being mischievous in its inception and disastrous in its consequences you should avoid."

The history of ancient Rome spans 1,000 years. Roughly 500 as a republic and 500 as an imperial autocracy with the birth of Christ occurring almost precisely in the middle. The closest parallels between Roman and American civilizations are to be found in Rome's first half millennia as a republic. We, in our day, can derive the most instructive lessons from that period. The tyranny of the empire came after the republic was destroyed, and that's the truly awful consequence of decay that America can yet avoid.

Both Rome and America were born in revolt against monarchy. Americans against the British and Romans against the Etruscans. Worry of concentrated authority both established republics with checks and balances, separation of powers, and protection of certain rights of at least many people if not all. Despite shortcomings, the establishment of the Roman republic in the 6th century B.C. and the American republic in the 18th century A.D. represented the greatest advances for individual liberty in the history of the world. Unparalleled prosperity and influence resulted in both cases. Upon winning their freedom, Romans split the top positions of power between two men - the consuls. One was to be a check upon the other, and neither except in emergency situations, was to serve more than one year."

"Legislative bodies - the Senate and Assemblies of Elected Representatives were established. And incidentally, the Senate was retained in name though not in power for the entire 1,000 years of Roman history. Even as freedom vanished, the later tyrants couldn't quite bring themselves to abolish the ancient symbols of republicanism.

So if America ever loses its republic, it wouldn't be surprising to me if it kept its House and Senate. As in the case of Rome, our legislative bodies may even formally ratify the final extinction of the freedom they've been voting against for decades.

Now, in 10 or 15 minutes, how can one condense and explain 1,000 years of history let alone offer observations about where our own history may be headed? Only Mark Skousen would expect me to do that. If you stop by our FEE booth in the exhibit area, you can pick up this little pamphlet, Are We Rome, which will give you a lot more dates and details than I have time to talk about here.

But I've decided to organize what I want to share with you around what I call the three most stubborn lessons of history. Let me tell you what they are then I'll go back and briefly relate each to the Roman Republic.

1. No people who lost their character kept their liberties.

2. Power that is shackled and disbursed is preferable to power that is unrestrained and centralized.

3. The here and now is rarely as important as tomorrow. Plan accordingly.

To the first of the three - no people who lost their character kept their liberties. Character, as I'm using the term, embodies the trait of virtue, which is from the Latin, virtus, meaning courageous honesty. Above all, it was esteemed by the early Romans of the republic. It was routinely taught in the home by mothers and fathers. Indeed, all formal education took place in the home in the first two and a half centuries of the republic. Schools didn't even appear until the third century B.C., and even then, they did not receive government funding until well after the republic had faded. I guess the lesson there is the government schools aren't necessary for civilizational decline, but they sure help.

Other traits of character stressed in early Rome were gravitas or dignity, continentia - self-discipline, industria - diligence, benevolentia - good will, pietas - loyalty in a sense of duty, and simplicitas - candor.

The connection between character and liberty is extraordinarily powerful. Liberty, by which I mean, rule of law, respect for and protection of the lives, property, rights, and contracts of others is the only social arrangement that requires character. The only one. No other system, especially socialism, asks much of you other than to keep quiet, pay your taxes, and go get yourself killed when the state so directs.

The absence of character produces chaos and tyranny. Its presence makes liberty possible. Rome rose from nothing and sustained itself as a great entity for centuries because of its strong character. When Romans allowed the temptations of the welfare state to erode their character, when they abandoned responsibility, self-discipline, self-reliance, respect for the property of other and began to use government to rob Peter to pay Paul, they turned down a fateful and destructive path.

In the waning years of the republic, a rogue by the name of Clodius ran for the office of Tribune. He bribed the electorate with promises of free grain at tax payer expense and he won.

Thereafter, Romans in growing numbers embraced the notion that voting for a living could be more lucrative than working for one. Candidates for Roman office spent huge sums to win public favor, then plundered the population afterwards to make good on their promises to the greedy mob that had elected them. As the republic gave way to dictatorship, a succession of emperors built their power on the handouts they controlled. Nearly one-third of the city of Rome received public relief payments by the time of Christ.

The historian, H.J. Haskell, describes this tragic turn of ideas and events in these words, "Less than a century after the republic had faded into the autocracy of the empire, the people had lost all taste for democratic institutions.” On the death of an emperor, the Senate debated the question of restoring the republic. But the commons preferred the rule of an extravagant despot who would continue the dole and furnish them free shows. The mob outside clamored for one ruler of the world.

It's frightening, isn't it? It's frightening to consider how easily a sturdy people, when they let their guard and their character down, can be bought and paid for by the welfare state. And once they sell themselves for that mess of pottage from politicians, it's not impossible to turn back, but it's not easy either. 

Now, to the second lesson. Power that is shackled and disbursed is preferable to power that is unrestrained and centralized. Just like Americans 2500 years later, Romans got it right when they determined, at their nation's birth, that concentrated power was the main problem of governance and the source of endless other problems. They and we once understood the wisdom of Lord Acton's famous admonition, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

I always like to add my own corollary to that - "Power attracts the already corrupted." Power concentrates because that's what power does if the people are not vigilant. In Rome, cities and provinces lost their independence to the central government after demanding funds from that government to bail them out of financial difficulty. The greatest of all Roman historians, Tacitus, noted how freedom was undermined when the focus of Roman legislation changed from the security and good of all to the satisfaction of particular individuals and interest groups.

Here are the words of Tacitus on this point. "And now, bills were passed not only for national objects but for individual cases. And the laws were most numerous when the commonwealth was most corrupt."

In 33 A.D., a financial panic gripped Rome. The government responded by a massive issuance of zero interest credits. Sound familiar? Businesses that happily took the bait found themselves later thoroughly ensnared. After all, he who pays the piper calls the tune.

Roman leaders increasingly saw power not only against their own people but over others as well. They embarked upon one foreign adventure after another. At first for the security of Rome, later often for the sake of domination and plunder.

Add the costs of empire to the costs of a welfare state and eventually, bills come due that even the most power-mad tax collector cannot pay without cheating the people of a sound currency.

The emperor, Nero, who once rubbed his hands together and declared, " Let us tax. Let us tax again. Let us tax until no one owns anything," was also the first emperor to debase the Roman coin by reducing its silver content. Power is an exceedingly dangerous thing in the hands of any government.

Now, to the third lesson. The here and now is rarely as important as tomorrow. Plan accordingly. Early Romans as with early Americans built and planned and lived for the future. They sacrificed present gratification so the future would be better. Then there came a time in both societies when living for the moment ruled the day. The feeling was, "Get what you can now regardless of the cost or who pays for it or how untellable a situation it may cause for you or for others tomorrow. If problems arise, some future generation will figure it out after we're gone."

We've heard a lot of talk in recent years that certain companies that are too big to fail. But in dealing with that imaginary short-term problem, we've handed huge chunks of our lives and economy over to a government that is arguably too big to succeed. Rome did precisely the same thing. "Live for the moment. Damn the future. Après moi, le deluge."

Now, you might ask, "Was there a reason why I spent more time on that first time on that first lesson than I did on the second and the third?" Yes, there is. Character is the key. It's everything. Little of value is possible without it, including liberty. By almost any measure, the standards that we as citizens keep and expect of those we elect have slipped badly in recent years, haven't they?

Though everybody complains about politicians who pander, perhaps they do it because we are an increasingly panderable people. To many are willing to look the other way when politicians misbehave as long as they are of the right party or deliver the goods we personally want. Our celebrity-drenched focus in our culture is incessantly on the vapid and the irresponsible. Our role models would make our grandparents cringe. We cut corners and sacrifice character all the time for power, money, attention, or other ephemeral gratifications. Bad character leads to bad policy and bad economics, which is bad for liberty. And without character, a free society is just not unlikely, it's impossible.

I will close by asking and then answering an important question. To avoid the fate of the dead and buried Roman republic, what does America need today? America needs more men and women who do not have a price at which they can be bought, who do not borrow from integrity to pay for expediency, who have their priorities straight and in proper order, whose handshake is an iron clad contract, who are not afraid of taking risks to advance what is right, who are honest in small matters as well as in large ones, who treat the rights and property of others as they expect others should regard theirs. America needs more men and women whose ambitions are big enough to include others, who know how to win with grace and lose with dignity, who do not believe that shrudeness and cunning and ruthlessness are the three keys to success, who still have friends they made 20 years ago, who put principle and consistency above politics or personal advancement, who are not afraid to go against the grain of popular opinion, and who regard their own self-reliance and responsibility as infinitely more sacred than an handout from the government.

America needs more men and women who do not forsake what is right just to get consensus because it makes them look good, who know how important it is to lead by example, not by barking orders, who would not have you do something they would not do themselves, who work to turn even the most adverse circumstances into opportunities to learn and improve, who truly love liberty and are eager to give much more than lip service to it, and who love even those who have done some injustice or unfairness to them. In other words, America, if it is to survive the fate of the Roman Republic, desperately needs more men and women of character.

Thank you very much.


最后修改: 2019年01月2日 星期三 09:40