H.L. Mencken and Leonard Read couldn’t have been more different, but each of them said some important things about life in a free society. Henry Louis Mencken (1880–1956) was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, lived nearly all of his life in the house he grew up in, and died in his bed. He was a third-generation Baltimorean. Although he was baptized in the Episcopal Church, Mencken was not religious in the least. He was a journalist, an editor, and a literary and social critic. Leonard E. Read (1898–1983) was born in the small town of Hubbardston, Michigan, moved to California, and finally settled in New York. Read was a religious man, serving as a board member of a Congregational church. After becoming the general manager of the Los Angeles branch of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, he founded The Foundation for Economic Education in New York, and spent his life in defense of individual liberty, private property, the free market, and limited government.
Stated briefly, here are Mencken’s plan and Read’s rule:
Let people do whatever they please, so long as they do not invade the right and freedom of other persons to do the same.
Let anyone do anything he pleases, so long as it is peaceful.
Mencken’s plan and Read’s rule can be applied to a host of personal-freedom issues.
Drug use. Although marijuana is legal for medical use in 29 states and legal for recreational use in 8 states, and 21 states have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of it, those same states still heavily regulate it and the federal government still classifies it as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, with a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. And of course, the buying, selling, and possession of “harder” drugs is still illegal on the federal and state levels.
Using drugs may be addictive, unhealthy, and dangerous, but it is not for the government to decide what risks Americans are allowed to take and what kinds of behaviors they are allowed to engage in. Therefore, there should be no laws, restrictions, or regulations of any kind regarding the buying, selling, or possessing of any drug for any reason. What a man desires to inhale or ingest into his own body is his own business as long as his actions are peaceful and he respects the rights of others.
The war on drugs is anything but peaceful, and is an invasion of personal freedom, privacy, and property. If someone is high on drugs and commits murder, rape, armed robbery, assault, battery, theft, shoplifting, or burglary, then he should be arrested and charged with murder, rape, armed robbery, assault, battery, theft, shoplifting, or burglary — just as he would be if he were high on alcohol; being high on drugs has nothing to do with it. And besides, it makes no sense for the government to wage war on illegal drugs, when tobacco, alcohol, and prescription drugs kill far more people every year.
Ticket scalping. Ticket scalpers are entrepreneurs who provide a needed service. They make it possible for events to sell tickets more quickly and efficiently right up to the day of the event. The exchange of tickets for cash between a willing buyer and a willing seller is a peaceful activity that should never be prohibited as long as the event does not violate the property rights of the owner of the ground where the exchange is made.
Prostitution. Every crime should have a tangible and identifiable victim with real harm and measurable damages. Prostitution may be immoral, sinful, and corrupting, but it is an illegitimate function of government to legislate morality. Activities that are peaceful, private, voluntary, and consensual should never be criminalized — no matter how immoral someone thinks they are. Those with moral objections to prostitution have the right to try to persuade women to not become prostitutes and men not to seek their services. They do not have the right to use the force of government to stop people from engaging in activities that do not involve coercion or violence. And besides, if it is legal for a woman to provide free sexual services as often as she wants and to as many people as she wants, then why should it be illegal for her to charge for performing the same services? Especially since someone’s indirectly paying for sex by paying for dinner and a movie is not a crime.
Gun ownership. Governments regulate guns more than anything else. Dealers cannot sell guns without having a license from the government. A gun cannot be legally purchased without the buyer’s having to undergo a background check and endure a waiting period. Only certain types of guns and ammunition are permitted to be sold. Yet, owning a gun is in and of itself a peaceful action. The vast majority of the millions of guns in the hands of Americans are never used to commit crimes. Although it has been said many times before, it is nevertheless still true: Guns don’t kill; people do. No one should be prohibited from buying, selling, or owning a gun. Those who use guns to threaten or harm people should, of course, be punished commensurately because they are violating someone’s personal or property rights.
Gambling. Casinos are illegal in most states. In states where they are legal they are heavily regulated. Most forms of public and private gambling are forbidden. Gambling may be wasteful, addictive, and ruinous, but it is not the job of government to prevent or discourage anyone from doing it. Anyone should be able to do with his own money as he sees fit, even if that means gambling it away. Those with moral objections to gambling have the right to try to persuade people not to gamble. They do not have the right to use the force of government to stop people from engaging in activities that do not involve force or fraud. Gambling is a personal and individual decision and none of anyone’s business as long as the gambler’s conduct and interactions are peaceful, voluntary, and consensual, and the gambling doesn’t violate the property rights of the owner of the ground where the bets are being placed.
Organ sales. Selling the organs in your body while you are alive (like a kidney) or after you are dead (most everything else) is currently a criminal action even though it is a peaceful, voluntary activity that violates no one else’s rights. But if you own your own body, then you certainly also own the organs in your body. Since anyone should be able to do what he wants with his own body as long as his activities are peaceful and he doesn’t violate the personal or property rights of anyone else, anyone should have the freedom to sell his organs.
Travel. In almost every city in the United States, a driver faces the possibility of being stopped by a sobriety checkpoint and checked by police searching for drivers who might be impaired owing to alcohol or drug use. In some states in the Southwest, drivers may encounter domestic immigration checkpoints miles from the border where government agents check the citizenship and immigration status of drivers who act suspicious, appear to be nervous, claim to be lost, or just have a thick accent. Americans who wish to travel to countries such as Cuba face numerous restrictions and prohibitions. No American should be prevented from traveling wherever and whenever he pleases as long as he is not trespassing and as long as he is traveling peacefully.
Occupational licensing. Depending on the state, many occupations (barbering, practicing law, et cetera) require a certificate of permission and approval from a government-sponsored board. But why should anyone have to get permission from the government to open a business, engage in commerce, work in certain occupations, have a particular vocation, or provide a service to willing customers? Performing a service — as long as it is requested, mutually beneficial, peaceful, and respectful of the personal and property rights of third parties — should never have to be licensed.
Government should never punish individuals or businesses for engaging in entirely peaceful, voluntary, and consensual actions that do not aggress against the person or property of others. Only violent criminals should be incarcerated, and no one should ever be arrested or fined for committing a victimless crime. That is true no matter how many people support the government’s doing such things. Mencken’s plan and Read’s rule are the foundation of a free society.
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