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Ignorance Is Dangerous
(Some history you might not know)
by Harry Browne
Recently, in an article pointing out that less
government would lead to less crime, I wrote:
"In 1943, there were 44 murders in New York City.
In 1995, with roughly the same population, New
York City had 1,499 murders -- and this was
celebrated as an improvement."
I was surprised to receive at least a half-dozen
emails from people complaining that this was a
misleading factoid. They said the statement
ignored factors such as population growth (even
though the population was roughly unchanged) or
economic conditions.
But the complainers miss the point. I wanted
readers to realize that there was once an America
they know very little about. People born since the
1950s -- before the Drug War, gun laws, and the
Great Society -- have little knowledge of the more
peaceful, more widely prosperous, and more civil
society that once was.
And most Americans know little about today's
events outside our borders. The TV networks don't
seem to publicize anything that doesn't advance
the government's interest.
As for history, most people know little more than
the one-liners they heard in high school.
In short, when Americans ponder such weighty
matters as the War on Terrorism or other
government programs, they often form important
opinions from simplistic history stories,
government press releases, and TV News.
The Other World of Knowledge
There's a whole world of knowledge to which most
Americans have never been exposed.
For example, did you know that . . .?
* It was only half-way through the Civil War that
slavery became a significant factor. The major
issue provoking the South to secede was the
tariffs that benefited Northern manufacturers and
forced Southern farmers to pay high prices for
manufactured goods.
* Child labor began dying out around 1900 as
expanding technology made workers more
productive -- enabling families to survive without
their children having to work. But the first
important child-labor law wasn't passed until
1938.
* For almost all of America's first 120 years,
there was no federal income tax -- and few people
complained that the government didn't have enough
revenue.
* For those same 120 years, there was no Federal
Reserve System -- and the federal government
printed no paper money (except for Lincoln's Civil
War "Greenbacks"). Consumer prices gradually
dropped by a third between 1800 and 1913 -- and
banking crises were occasional and mild. But with
the Federal Reserve in charge, prices rose 1,800%
by 2000 and the country suffered its worst-ever
banking crisis in 1933.
* If America had stayed out of World War I, there
probably wouldn't have been a World War II.
Without the U.S. to tip the balance of power in
1917, the European nations would have reached an
armistice that probably would have precluded the
Communist takeover in Russia, kept the Kaiser in
power in Germany, kept German territory intact,
and left no grievances for Hitler to exploit in
the 1930s.
* The crime rate dropped by over 50% during the
Great Depression -- despite terrible economic
conditions. The chief cause of the improvement was
the end of Alcohol Prohibition in 1933. (Think how
much safer your city could be today if Drug
Prohibition ended.)
* Pearl Harbor wasn't an "unprovoked" attack by
the Japanese. During the year before, Franklin
Roosevelt pressured the Japanese to withdraw from
China, East Asia, and Indochina --imposing
economic sanctions and confiscating Japanese
assets in the U.S. When the Japanese realized war
was inevitable, they decided to begin by
destroying the U.S. Pacific fleet.
* Almost every important American general or
admiral said dropping the atomic bomb wasn't
necessary to end World War II. The Japanese knew
the war was lost and were already trying to
surrender -- but Roosevelt and Truman insisted on
"unconditional surrender" and wouldn't agree to
the Emperor remaining in power (even though he
_did_ remain in power after all). Well over
100,000 people died to no purpose.
* Because consumers wanted safer ways to smoke, in
the 1960s tobacco companies offered filtered,
low-tar, and low-nicotine cigarettes -- and
advertised the safer ingredients. But then the
government prohibited such advertising -- removing
any incentive for tobacco companies to make their
products safer.
* Also in the 1960s, pharmaceutical companies
developed beta blockers that kept blood flowing to
and from the heart. But the FDA held these
products off the U.S. market for six long years --
although there were no reported problems in
countries where the drugs were already available.
The delay caused an estimated 60,000 people to die
prematurely from heart attacks.
* Prior to the 1970s anyone could carry a loaded
gun onto a commercial air flight. There were no
metal detectors and no security guards. And I
don't recall a single report of a gun being
misused on an airplane.
* The U.S. Air Force has been bombing Iraq several
times every month for the past ten years, causing
the deaths of thousands of innocent Iraqi
citizens.
* The U.S. has blockaded Iraq -- keeping food and
medicines from reaching Iraqi citizens -- causing
a half-million Iraqis to die, according to the
United Nations. In 1997 then Secretary of State
Madeline Albright said, "We think the price is
worth it."
* The Kosovo Liberation Army (on behalf of which
the U.S. bombed Serbia in 1999) was considered a
terrorist organization by the U.S. State
Department as late as 1998. Since the Serbian war
ended, the KLA has driven almost all non-Albanians
out of Kosovo -- "ethnically cleansing" the area
far more thoroughly than the Serbs supposedly did.
Watch What You Ask For
Government is a powder keg. Whatever its alleged
purpose -- to disarm criminals, make America
drug-free, bring peace to the world, alleviate
suffering -- it almost always makes things worse,
and often creates enormous suffering.
You can't spend your life searching out news
stories that don't appear on the Nightly News. But
you can get alternative news and viewpoints at
WorldNetDaily -- and you can bookmark and revisit
some of the websites from which WND gets articles.
And, most important, you should be very skeptical
of any promise made by _any_ President or
Congress -- Republican or Democrat -- that your
government is about to improve the economy, public
safety, morals, or national defense.
---
Harry Browne is Director of Public Policy
for the American Liberty Foundation
(www.AmericanLibertyFoundation.org).
You can read more of his articles at
www.HarryBrowne.org, his books are
available at
www.HBBooks.com, and you
can participate in his weekly radio talk
show via the Internet every Friday evening
at
www.HarryBrowne.org .
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