Long before the days of the gas turbine and the steam engine, vessels sailing the high seas relied almost entirely on the motive power of the wind. However, even during periods of total calm, a ship and its crew were far from helpless. In the absence of wind, the crew used their own muscle to manually thrust their oars into the water and propel the ship forward. Because the oars of this era were made primarily of white ash, the term "sailing by the ash breeze" was born. This expression is often used to describe people who blaze their own trails and make something for themselves of their own initiative. It has come to represent strength, determination, and independence. 

For example, Nat Bowditch, the primary character in Jean Lee Latham’s 1955 Newbery Medal winning novel1 about a young man’s quest for learning, famously exclaims, “Only a weakling gives up when he's becalmed! A strong man sails by ash breeze!” While Mr. Bowditch’s words are meant to inspire the best from within, even the strongest among us can still feel anxious and helpless when the winds cease to blow. 

What then can we average landlubbers learn from this old nautical expression, “sailing by the ash breeze”?

First, if ever we find ourselves stranded in becalmed waters, we might do well to pause and take inventory of our situation. Experienced navigators recognize the importance of being aware of their surroundings and assessing how the external conditions of their environment might impact their goals. All too often in life’s journey we become accustomed to traveling by whatever fills our sails. We should first attempt to understand what it is that we are counting on to move us forward.

Are we sitting idle, waiting for some external force to move us along? Are we waiting for our politicians, our boss, or maybe even our spouse to fill our sails with that motive power? While we are often fortunate to sail effortlessly along with the help of a strong breeze, the winds of fortune are not always there to move us in our preferred direction. Sometimes we have no other option than to move ourselves in the direction we want to travel. Instead of waiting for some external source of energy over which we have no control, why not look to our own internal strength?

The early travelers also knew the importance of finding the right balance between relying on external sources of energy for locomotion and creating their own opportunities. Fortunately, we know that the wind doesn’t stop blowing forever, but there are just some days when the wind refuses to cooperate. Often, we can afford to wait for the next breeze, but other times it is urgent to pick up the oars and start rowing right away. When the sails hung limp as the enemy was approaching, the sailors would not stand idle cursing the misfortune of poor external circumstance. They took action. There are simply times when we have to roll up our sleeves and put oar to water.

One final lesson we can garner from the early-day travelers who sailed by the ash breeze is that no single person has the strength to move the ship forward alone. It is when our individual effort is combined with that of others sharing the same goal that we are able to achieve amazing results. Moreover, we should also remember that during those times when it may seem that we are but a single vessel stranded in becalmed waters, our families, friends, communities, churches, and other organizations are there rowing alongside us; even when our individual strength falters. We are not sailing life’s journey alone.

Although we do not have a choice about the wind’s direction, we can control how we react. Instead of worrying about the things you can’t control, try focusing on the things you can. And, if you ever find yourself in becalmed waters, may you find the strength to sail by the ash breeze until the wind fills your sails again.

In Liberty,

Jason Riddle

This article originally appeared in the 2012 Winter Issue of Peachtree Papers.

Today, the average American enjoys a standard of living that is virtually unmatched in history. For centuries, the majority of human civilization lived a basic hand-to-mouth existence; gathering, hunting, or farming the goods needed for survival. In many parts of the world this is still the case. What then have been the major contributing factors for economic progress in America? What makes our high standard of living possible?  

American prosperity was not the result of an edict from a king, decree from a pope, or redistribution of some static wealth from the haves of the Old World to the have-nots of a new nation. American prosperity was created; created by individuals homesteading new land, producing to the best of their ability, and exchanging goods and services voluntarily to mutual benefit. American prosperity was created by hard work and real savings. The availability of real savings allows for capital investment which enables an economy to exponentially augment its production capabilities.

It is important to note the reasons why Americans were able to amass real savings and invest capital at an unprecedented rate. Perhaps most importantly, the political and economic system in America has been largely structured in such a way that the rights of the individual have been respected. While not perfectly applied, the concept of individual liberty flourished in America and led to the abolition of slavery and advancements toward the equal treatment of races, religions, sexes. There is no question that we still have a long way to go. The concept that each and every man and woman has a right to his or her life, liberty, and property is still very new to human history and is far from being fully understood and upheld by most.

While the protection of individual rights has never been upheld in full consistency, having a sense of security that the fruits of labor would not be confiscated by the masters and feudal lords allowed the American entrepreneur to flourish. The American system has traditionally respected the individual's right to justly acquire, use, and dispose of private property (at least to a relatively high degree). The rule of law provides stable expectations, minimizes fear of unjust seizures, and helps to enforce contracts in an evenhanded manner. When people are left free to produce, trade, and innovate then limited resources are directed towards the fulfillment of the needs and preferences of the people in society. As Murray N. Rothbard explains:

“The productivity of the private sector does not stem from the fact that people are rushing around doing "something," anything, with their resources; it consists in the fact that they are using these resources to satisfy the needs and desires of the consumers. Businessmen and other producers direct their energies, on the free market, to producing those products that will be most rewarded by the consumers, and the sale of these products may therefore roughly "measure" the importance that the consumers place upon them.”

If the consumer behavior directs resources to their most preferred use through the process of the free market, then any interference in the market necessarily diverts resources away from their highest and best use leading to a relatively lower standard of living than would otherwise be enjoyed. Unfortunately, market interference has become the new American standard. Onerous taxes, regulations, subsidies, bailouts, and handouts are now the norm. Political pull has become more important than ability to serve customers on the market.

Many Americans today have incorrectly inverted the cause of prosperity with the effect. They believe that prosperity is not something that is to be created, but rather something to be redistributed. Most all Americans support policies of taking from the earned and giving to the unearned in one form or another. This primitive, irrational ideology of the Old World is still deeply ingrained in American culture. If we wish to avoid returning ever closer to the hand-to-mouth existence of our ancestors, it is a political system that tolerates violations of individual rights that must be fought.

Finally, we should recognize that the freedom of the market does not deliver some kind of perfect utopia, however in the span of a few generations enough real wealth has been created in America to allow even the poorest citizens to enjoy luxuries not available to kings a short time ago. We are able to enjoy these luxuries because we produce. The degree of economic progress is highly correlated to the degree that individual rights are protected.

The only social system that is conducive to a prosperous society is one that respects people as free and morally equal. The only economic system that respects individual human rights is one that operates by mutually beneficial voluntary exchange; not the compulsive force of government. We have flourished despite the onslaught of market interventions. It can only be imagined what level of prosperity would be possible to a free people liberated from the yoke of the political class.

In Liberty,

Jason Riddle

I don't know about you, but I am pretty tired of hearing about the "1%" and the "47%" and "top 10%" and the "bottom 10%". Instead of bucketing people into relatively meaningless percentages, let's take a moment to reflect on the fact that behind each of these numbers are real human lives. We are talking about your friends, family, and neighbors. We are talking about you and me. We are the 100%.  

And something that should be of significant interest to all of us "in the 100%" is the idea of individual liberty.  Liberty is a concept that pertains to 100% of the persons in this country and around the world. Liberty is an integral part of the human experience, but it is often pushed to the background of political policy discussions.  Let's take a few quick minutes today to think about what liberty is and what it entails.

Liberty is the ability of an individual to have control over and be responsible for his or her own actions. Only the individual can have the ability to make choices and act according to his or her own reasons. Only the individual can be coerced by external forces. Only individuals are free or not free. The individual is the basic unit of social analysis. Liberty is a concept that applies to the individual and not to the group or the collective.

Liberty applies to all of us, but it is a mistake to categorize freedom as pertaining to races, religions, ethnic groups, social classes, nations, or any other collective entity such as "the 1%". There are certainly plenty of examples where individuals have used coercion to limit the freedom of other individuals on the basis of race, religion, and ethnicity, but to think of liberty (or lack there of) as belonging to the group is very dangerous. Many unspeakable travesties in human history have resulted from this tribal “us versus them” mentality; the same tribal "us versus them" analysis used by politicians and pundits to divide people in order to generate class warfare when it need not exist.

The idea that it is moral to subjugate an individual person for the betterment of the collective has been used to justify everything from the gross expropriation of property, to mass murder, to the system of government we have in the US today. Anytime the government grants special political privilege for things like corporate subsidies, bailouts, and welfare entitlement, the liberty of individual people is being sacrificed. Whenever members of our government act in any manner whatsoever, they limit the liberty of individual people. There may be justified cases where individual liberty should be limited. However, limits on liberty must always be scrutinized to the highest of standards. You should never ask your government to do on your behalf what you would not yourself be willing to force your friends, families, and neighbors to do for you.  So much of the confusion surrounding politics could be ended if we simply analyze policy using the yardstick of its impact on individual liberty.

“Libertarian thought emphasizes the dignity of each individual, which entails both rights and responsibility.” – David Boaz

In Liberty,

Jason Riddle