Chapter 24 of 48 · Students of Liberty by Leonard E. Read
Organization is Little Understood
In committee-type organizations, it is customary for persons to speak and act as a collective - as resolutioners in unison - instead of as persons. The best that these syn*Without voluntary organization in productive enterprise, for example, there could be no attention to our interdependent requirements. Most of us would starve. 31 thetic arrangements of individuals can produce is the lowest common denominator view of the majority. Such a view is almost certain to be different from, and inferior to, the best thought of the individuals who go to compose the arrangement. And, even the best is none too good when it comes to the difficult problem of how to under stand liberty. Organization Can Be Useful Organizations can, however, serve a highly useful pur pose in developing and spreading an understanding of liberty if organization be confined to its proper sphere. For the purpose of advancing liberty, which depends solely on the advancement of individual understanding, the only usefulness of organization would seem to be to accommo date and to make easier the joint contribution to, partici pation in, and ownership of the physical assets that will aid in the process. These physical assets may include type writers, buildings, specialized libraries, printing presses, telephones, and the many other helpful tools to individuals who are attempting to extend their understanding of lib erty - physical accommodations enabling searchers for truth to exchange and disseminate ideas and knowledge more effectively. Primarily, these physical assets can be used to secure the advantages which derive from speciali zation and the division of labor. Organization, limited in this manner, is a useful and efficient means for achiev ing these desirable ends.
Students of Liberty
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