Means to Happiness Discussed

James MacKaye '95 gave the third of a series of six lectures on "Political Engineering" in Emerson Hall yesterday afternoon. His special topic was "Liberty, Equality and Democracy."

Liberty, Equality and Democracy are all means mistaken for ends. Liberty, which will be considered first, is of two distinct kinds: real liberty and legal liberty. The former is the kind that is of the greatest interest to men. Laws decrease legal liberty but increase real liberty. There are also two kinds of rights: legal and moral; but there are no such things as inalienable rights as maintained by Jefferson, Mill and George. Abraham Lincoln said: "No man has a right to do wrong." Equality is an equal distribution of wealth among the classes of society, and the equal distribution of the means of consumption is desirable. Self-interest and intelligence are the most prevalent useful qualities in human nature; the former should be used to impel, and the latter to direct, human conduct to the end of utility. Anarchy is a false view of liberty, oligarchy seeks the happiness of only a few, while democracy is an attempt to apply the precept of interest and intelligence. Individualism is required in consumption, and socialism introduction. The latter is best directed by experts. The efficiency of production is constantly being made more perfect by co-operation. Badly applied science combines progress with poverty, and science which is unguided by morals is source.