Mr. Franckowiak is a businessman in Chicago. His business includes a weekly radio program in behalf of freedom, entitled We Still Have 57 Per Cent (referring to the portion of personal earnings not taken by taxes). “Heads Will Roll” is from his script for April 10, 1972.
In the societies of yesteryear, the king ruled supreme. The saying that “heads will roll” was no idle comment but a probability which struck fear in the hearts of the people. When Henry VIII of England said “heads will roll,” roll they did! Whenever and wherever the king was displeased, the shockwaves of his fury would reverberate throughout the dynasty, and the poor citizen would shudder in fear. The king was almighty; and people, at best, were humble servants of the king. The king’s word was law; his word was justice; he was the absolute ruler; all property was his to control; all people were his to control. The king was the government, and there was no such thing as individual freedom for people. Even the democracy of Athens and the Roman Empire, which were what we call representative governments, were based upon the principle that government is almighty and man’s right to live or die is decided by the state.
In days of old, governments were always first and the people second. Then, along came the United States of America and things were different. Man was to enjoy freedom, of which we still have 57 per cent.
In other societies, people such as you and I were absorbed by the state. It was as if the government was God on earth. Governments were at the top and people were the servants of government. But when the United States of America was formed, a dramatic thing happened. In terms of setting up a country, our forefathers did a complete flip-flop. While every other country had government first and people second, the United States was founded in reverse —people first and government second as servant of the people. How dramatic that was — a bold, new principle — people first and government second. The people were to be at the top rung of the ladder and the government at the bottom. People were to be free to enjoy life; people were to be free to do their own thing in any way that was peaceful; and the government would serve all men, preserve the freedom of all men through law and through order, through justice and through the punishment of criminals. This was a fantastic achievement in the history of mankind — and still is! The miracle of America is man’s precious individual freedom.
Freedom with Responsibility
Of course, with freedom comes responsibility. If man is to enjoy the blessings of freedom on the top rung of the ladder, then he also has to be responsible — responsible for his own welfare, for his own housing, for his own security, for his own employment, responsible for his own existence and for his own happiness. That was and always is the price of freedom. If man is to enjoy freedom, and the spirit of freedom to do his own thing, then he must also bear the burden of responsibility for the consequences of his actions. Man, enjoying the fresh, brisk breezes of freedom, must also be the master of his own fate and destiny. Rich or poor, good or bad, the fortunes of success or the consequences of failure, to enjoy freedom is to accept responsibility. This was the foundation upon which the United States was built: free and self-responsible men at the top rung of the ladder and government second as the keeper of the peace.
America Is Changing
Now, little by little, America is changing. Men began to abdicate their individual responsibility and they turned to “benevolent” government. Housing is now a function of government; education is now a function of government; Medicare is now a function of government; Social Security is a function of government; so is banking, transportation, electricity, water, busing, farming, prices and wages, employment and non-employment. The war on poverty is now a function of government. And so it goes; man, in his abdication of responsibility, has yielded to government — and the rungs of the ladder are no longer clearly defined. Where once the man of America stood proudly at the top and government was a far-removed and far-distant second, they now crowd together on the ladder: individual freedom and self-responsibility — 57 per cent; government responsibility and government control — 43 per cent, and rising. America is shifting priorities so that the government will be on top and people second —calling to mind the divine right of kings of yesteryear, the Russia and Red China of today, where, in fact, “heads still roll.”
To abdicate responsibility, to seek welfare from government, is to give up in exchange man’s precious freedom because the two are interrelated. To obtain housing from the government is to place housing in control of government. To obtain education from government is to put government in control of education. The price of welfare from government is control by government — and control is the opposite of the freedom that was the miracle of America.
For man to enjoy his rightful place at the top of Nature’s ladder in the sunshine of human dignity, he must first accept his responsibility and thereby keep government beneath him as his servant. The divine right of kings and governments is the principle of yesteryear. Now is the time for dramatic reaffirmation of mankind’s greatest discovery: man’s right to life, man’s right to the pursuit of happiness, and man’s right to liberty. Otherwise, “heads will roll.”
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Misplaced Controls
They are exploiting public ignorance, these politicians who would put price controls on meat and other food prices. These prices have not soared as have the costs of government, and it is the costs of government which need to be controlled.
If the costs of government hadn’t risen any more than have meat prices, there wouldn’t be enough inflation to make it a problem.
The fact is that well over a third of consumer payment for meat and other voluntary purchases goes to cover costs of things the government has decreed more important.
J. KESNER KAHN
