by Richard A. Cheatham, Press Media Group, LLC

One of the greatest and most deadly illusions, one that’s tripped up humans for thousands of years, is this. Politics, economics, military actions, friendship and other aspects of volitional human action are not considered by most people to be integrated parts of one unified whole. They’re presumed, incorrectly, to be distinct and separate.

The best term for that big picture I’m talking about is “human action.” “Human action” is very much like the environment with all parts interconnected. When an action is taken, a series of other things must result.

One brilliant man who made these connections early on is Ludwig von Mises whose magnum opus he entitled “Human Action.” Dr. von Mises became the dean of what is now called the Austrian School of Economics.

His position was that every person is unique, with his or her own very personal and individual values, abilities, experiences, knowledge and preferences. He wrote about people’s choices and actions within praxeology, the study of human action.

Professor von Mises believed the only way one could understand economics was to understand individuals and their interactions, economic and otherwise, even the most seemingly minute and insignificant. He believed one could observe human nature in action, that certain classic situations would repeat over and over. From this simple beginning all the rest follows. When we say that America attacked Iraq, that is not precisely accurate. Certain individuals for many different reasons attacked certain Iraqis who decided for reasons to fight them.

Many people presume, for example, that something called “government” can “fix” some “problem.” What are they actually saying? They also presume to know the “costs” of that fix and the consequences. Let’s investigate that a bit further. The costs you can see and know are only a very small part of the ultimate consequences. There are perhaps innumerable other costs and consequences you do not see, just as in the environment.

When politicians promise this or that, based upon their omnipotence and amazing ability to perceive all consequences, obviously you’re being fooled. You’re being led down a path where you will face realities, whether you’ve been warned about them or not.

The useful bottom line of all this is that you mustn’t allow yourself to be deluded into thinking your political decisions create no ripples in the lives of other people. That is, unless you’re one of those who don’t care about the “collateral damage” we’ve all been led to believe “other people” must pay for our casual political choices.

When you use force and threats (when you employ government), someone will pay. You may hope it’s other people, not you. Eventually, however, it will be you who pays and hurts. Funny thing is, our present network of illusions about human action is so broad and deep you won’t have any idea where the pain and hurt originates.

©2006 by Richard A. Cheatham. All rights reserved. Mr.Cheatham is a professional speaker/writer and is syndicated through Press Media Group, LLC. Contact him through, Living History Assoc., Ltd., at www.LHALtd.com or DrawBackVeil@aol.com.