I Don't Know: The Key To Freedom

The famous parable goes something like this: Socrates went to the all-knowing Oracle and asked, "Who is the smartest person in the world?" The Oracle replied, "You, Socrates are the smartest person in the world." Socrates was a bit confused at this response. Socrates knew the Oracle is always right, but he didn't think he was the smartest man in the world. After being told he was, Socrates thought about what it was that made him the smartest man in the world. Upon reflection, Socrates realized why he was the smartest man in the world and that is because he knew there was so much he didn't know. Unlike other people who deluded themselves in being all wise and knowing all, Socrates was aware of the limits of his own knowledge and for that he was considered the wisest man who ever lived. The meaning of the story is simple: The wisest man on earth is the man who is aware that he is a fool. A person aware of their own fallibility and their own limits is the wisest man on earth. Smart people know that they do not know. Idiots delude themselves otherwise.

In the presidential debates, the people running for president are asked all sorts of questions about how they will fix things and improve the world. No one person running for president has ever uttered the three most important words essential to freedom: "I don't know." Tyrants think they know. They think they know and their followers think they know. "Yes, we can," was Obama's famous chant. Eight years of his presidency has proven otherwise, but still after all his failures, Obama keeps up the delusion. "I know what is best, which is why you can't be free. I know and you do not know and because I know and you do not know, you must listen to me. If you refuse to listen to me, there are cops who have no problem beating people into submission. Stop being stubborn and getting in the way of progress."

Libertarians are constantly asked about what a free market society would look like. "Who will build the roads, who will help the poor, who will educate the ignorant, who will defend the weak?" There is a temptation to try to answer all the statist objections, but this is a temptation that should be resisted. The answer to all such questions is simple: "I don't know. I don't know, but neither do you. The main difference is that I'm aware of my own ignorance and the limits of my knowledge, whereas you're full of delusions. And that's the whole point of freedom. Since people do not know, trial and error and discovery are what is needed to improve society, not a bunch of intellectuals planning society from the comfort of their armchair."

Central planning fails because it ignores the important insight that knowledge is dispersed. It also ignores the important insight that knowledge is a discovery process, where new discoveries and inventions are created not simply by thinking, but based on living life and based on day to day interactions. People are constantly discovering new things daily, which is why the idea of a central plan is bogus. There are always going to be things that the central planner failed to take account of. Day to day interactions with people, and accidental discoveries are what make progress possible. Some of the world's greatest inventions have been invented by accident. A lack of something is what makes a new discovery possible. An unmet need that no one thought of before. Central planning is a violent and dangerous delusion.

So who will do X or Y in a free society? I don't fucking know, but I do know one thing: Those who think they know all and have the answer to every problem are the most ignorant of all. I may not be able to light a candle, but I am aware of the violent, destructive darkness of the state.