17.3 Human Action

The study of human action is called “praxeology.” Ludwig von Mises wrote the definitive text on this study, titled Human Action. I do not recommend that you read it, for it is filled with unnecessary conjecture, unrelated to the primary study. Rather, I draw my understanding in part from those who have studied von Mises’ text and then made the important things accessible. I say, “in part,” however, for I find that my thinking inside of practical subsistence living and community interaction over many years led me to the same conclusions as set out by Mises.

We cannot define the human apart from including what humans do and why they do it, that is, human action.

Two Laws of Human Action. The first law of human action is that every single thing that every human does, is done for a purpose, known by the person choosing to do that action. That purpose, then, is always to gain something, to benefit one’s self in some way.

The second law of human action is that the choice to do one thing is always a choice NOT to do something else. Every human action is a discrimination against all other possible actions in that moment. If I get up from my chair, that action comes out from me, from my own purposes. I hope, by doing such a thing, to gain a refill of coffee. And I discriminate against the action of remaining in my chair without more coffee.

Always a Reason. These two “laws” are constant and fixed. They never change. Even a madman has always a purpose in every action. The practice of criminal profiling seeks to determine why an insane killer, for instance, does what he does. When the purpose is understood, it can lead towards finding the perpetrator. The statement “he did it because he’s mad,” doesn’t hold. There is always a reason, and that reason is always a personal choice to obtain for one’s self something that is valued.

Then, discrimination is essential to being human. When I married Maureen, I rejected all other women I knew. I was not a “lady’s man,” but I was aware that other sisters at Blueberry were disappointed by my “rejection” of them.

An Environment of Scarcity. Then, the third important consideration of all human action is less a ‘law’ and more the environment in which humans act. Humans act inside an environment of scarcity. A human infant left entirely to itself has nothing and can obtain nothing. That infant will die, for the scarcity in which it lives is complete.

I have enough coffee in my cupboard to last for two weeks. If I do not obtain more coffee within those two weeks, then my supply of coffee will run out. I cannot produce my own coffee, for I live in a climate where the scarcity of coffee is total. Coffee bean trees cannot grow here. I want coffee very much, me, the personal me inside. Therefore I am ready to discriminate against my bank account to get more coffee.

Trading for Coffee. But the high value I place upon coffee will do me no good unless I can persuade a coffee grower in another country to discriminate against the coffee beans he has in his shed by sending them to me. Why would he do such a thing? That coffee grower in another country will act for one reason only, for the purpose of gaining something he values for himself. That coffee grower values my money more than he values his coffee. I value the coffee more than I value the money. Therefore we agree to trade. I give him money, which he values, and he gives me coffee, which I value. Both of us are acting with purpose for self-benefit, and both of us are choosing against all other possibilities.

Without Exception. No human has ever acted except out from perceived self-interest. Even a slave obeys for self-interest, that is, to keep from being tortured. And in choosing to obey for self-interest, that slave is discriminating against freedom and all its pain and even death. These are absolute laws, and they rule all human action without exception.

And because of an environment of scarcity, all human action seeks to obtain something for one’s self that one does not have. You have never acted for any other reason. You eat because you are hungry. You drink because you are thirsty. And because you do not have food or drink, you choose against comfort and ease in order to give of yourself something valued by someone else.

The Likeness of God. We then conclude that these two universal laws of human action come out from God and are His likeness. And even more than that, we must conclude that God also lives inside the realm of scarcity. God does not have what He wants to have, and so He acts in order to obtain what He wants.

Jesus said, “I desire that those whom You have given Me might be with Me where I am.” When He said that, He did not have any of us. We were not yet there with Him. Yet the words to become us were already inside of God and part of His being. Yet God could not know us until we came out into reality. God lacks what He wants. And God is willing to trade His life to win our hearts.

Made Like God. God acts and has always acted with purpose out from self-interest. God acts inside the reality of scarcity, creating the earth when there was no earth, placing humans upon it, when He had no visible expression of Himself. God wants us to know Him. We do not know Him. God wants something He does not have. God then made us just like Himself, to act always with purpose for some perceived self-benefit.

A human that could be programmed to act always only for the benefit of others would be cursed, and the programming would be considered evil by all. If God had made humans that way, the human race would have quickly died off in poverty and loss.

More than that, look at Jesus’ words, for Jesus is discriminating. When He says, “Those whom You have given Me,” He is discriminating against all others. Jesus was asking God for me, but He was not necessarily asking God for my neighbor. Yet Jesus’ action of discrimination will result in blessing and benefit for all.

Created to Need One Another. So, you do not have what you want, but other people do have what you want. That’s the world God created. God created humans to NEED one another. In so doing, God created us just like Himself.

There are two ways that you can get what you want from other people, two ways ONLY. You can enter into a mutual agreement with the person who has what you want, to exchange things of almost equal value. And we say “almost equal” because value is personal and perceived. The ten bucks is worth less to me than the bag of coffee. And the bag of coffee is worth less to the store owner than my ten bucks. We both perceive gain by the exchange.

Economical versus Political. This first way for me to obtain what I want from others is called “economics” or the economical way.

But there is another way to get what I want from you, and that is by violence. If I chose to do so, and if I were stronger than you, I could inflict pain on you such that you will value no-pain more than keeping your stuff. I get the stuff; you get no-pain. This second way for me to obtain what I want from others is called “politics” or the political way. ALL legislation has meaning only when the politicians institute the infliction of pain into their legislation so that all who disagree will be tortured into compliance. My ‘license’ (permission) to drive my own car is from violence; my coffee is from peaceful agreement and exchange.

A Very Clever Man. When you reduce God’s law to its essence, it is – Do not steal. – Do not take what you want from others by violence. All cursing comes, then, from the institution of violence into human interaction, a violence that is contrary to the law.

Then a very clever man came along. He was Jewish on the one hand and a Christian for a short while on the other, so he knew perfectly how to twist both the law and the gospel into violence. This man’s name was Karl Marx. Marxism begins with a fundamental accusation against God. And again, we are bringing in the false only so that we might better understand how God made us and why. Marxism accuses God of selfishness and violence.

The Devil in the Details. Yet Marx’s accusations cloak themselves in the garb of the Christian gospel, otherwise known as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” A particular Marxist, who also claims to be the “vicar of Christ” recently said that we need to abandon a world based on “self-interest” and create a world where we put other’s interests first. Sounds “good,” right? Sounds like things that Paul said. The devil, however, is in the details, as they say.

This brings us then to another extension of the first two laws. The first extension is that all human action takes place inside a realm of scarcity. The second extension deals with the question of “who decides?” Who decides what I choose to do, me or someone else?

Control and Violence. Marxism claims that all human action is controlled and that all human action is violence. This is what “class struggle” means. Marxism argues that you are what you are because of the group you are part of and that you cannot do anything except out from the programmed actions coming into you from that “group.” And Marxism argues that all human action, even that which is perceived “peaceful,” is actually the violence of one group against another to steal what belongs to the other group. Marxism argues that the purposes and choices of the individual have no meaning. We are just chemical reactions coming out of the goo, and we have no meaning.

Obeying Evil versus Love. If I do not make my own decisions for my own perceived self-interest, THEN – someone else, another human who is evil and who does not know me, is making my decisions for me, and then forcing me with violence to do them.

Except – that statement is impossible, for it violates the two laws of human action. If I choose to do what someone else commands me to do, regardless of their intentions, I do so again ONLY for perceived self-interest, the interest of avoiding the torture the other person will inflict on me if I do not obey.

Love, on the other hand, is the utmost respect for another individual person, and giving thanks places all things as coming out from a God who is good all the time and who turns, with us, all things towards goodness.

“Christian” Evil. What the “vicar of Christ” really meant was that God is absent from His church, and that to fill the void caused by the absence of God, we should all obey a small group of very wicked people who actually hate God.

Now, I seek to influence your own personal decisions, that is, what you do in action out from your own perceived valuation and self-interest, by convincing you that God is good. But another “Christian teacher” might come along and attempt to convince you that if you do not submit to his anointing in God, then you are in rebellion against God and God will punish you. Using “God” as one’s violence in order to steal (and that is exactly what is happening), is the greatest of ‘Christian’ evils.

“Those Stupid People.” Let’s think this one through. I don’t want God to torture me. I then give you what you demand from me for my own self-interest, to escape the pain ‘God’ is about to inflict upon me. It’s called theft, and it’s the opposite of love.

Now, the sayings of Marxism fill all the pathways of conversation in our world. I even hear readers of my letters say things that are Marxist. Yet the principles of Marxism are just an expression of the same arrogance in self and contempt for others that Adam chose. People “KNOW” that they make the RIGHT decisions for themselves (for there can be no other possibility), but they are convinced that most other people are stupid and must be controlled. This has always been the present world of folly.

Discrimination. Charles Dicken’s story of Ebenezer Scrooge leaves out the most important part of the story and as such presents a false picture of being “charitable.” Dickens does not consider all the good coming into people’s lives out from Scrooge’s careful business practices, providing funding to many local businesses who are increasing wealth for everyone.

All choices discriminate. For Scrooge to give money away out from making himself feel “good,” is to deny that same money that would have gone to a nearby shop that wanted to increase its productivity, that is, the wealth of the whole neighborhood.

The benefits of human action coming from personal decisions based on self-interest, though not always visible, are always greater than the more visible “benefits” coming from the false pressure of shame or from political violence. The true lesson of A Christmas Carol is that outward appearance matters more than reality.

God Acts Only out from Himself. Choosing to act for self-interest is the only thing all humans ever do. Such action is NOT selfishness. Selfishness is actually what we could call “soft” violence. I am getting what I want by depriving you of something important to you out from an ill-considered.

Our purpose, however, is to understand the human as God made us, separate from the perversions of this present age. And so let’s go to the root of why God made us like Himself, that is, to act with purpose for perceived self-interest according to what we personally value. You see, I AM THAT I AM can act only out from Himself. Yet this I AM, then, values other’s interests above His own!

Mutual Trust. Here is my relationship with the dynamic and personal I AM. “Reciprocal Love is the highest levels of regard and respect shared between two, that is, an equality of giving and receiving on the basis of a deep and mutual trust.” The idea of forcing me to act in a way that is contrary to myself NEVER enters God’s mind. The idea of forcing God to act in a way that is contrary to Himself NEVER enters my mind.

When I shop at Kroger, I walk through the aisles inside a sense of mutual trust between Kroger and me. The lying “covid” announcements work to break that trust, therefore we know that they are Marxist and demonic. Then, when I get the registration for my car, there is no trust whatsoever, no matter how nice the lady is. I am there only to avoid violence against myself.

Valuing Your Integrity. Sharing life with God is always and only a deep and mutual trust. Then, coming out from that trust, I highly value God, that’s what “regard” means. And because I place a high value upon God’s interests, inside of KNOWING that God also places an even higher value upon my interests, we respect one another absolutely. Then I turn and walk together with all other humans in exactly the same way.

When you make a decision that I don’t like, then my regard for you values your integrity above my own preferences. Allowing other people to make decisions we don’t like is the essence of peace and the meaning of love. In contrast, the “vicar of Christ” hates other people’s decisions out from his own contempt. He is practicing the very definition of “selfishness.”

To Rule and to Increase. Let’s bring God’s ambition, given to us as the first part of the design of our hearts, into our discussion. We are speaking of the need to rule and the need to increase. I make all my decisions to act in my own self-interest not only out from my God-given need to rule, but also out from my God-like need to increase (Be fruitful and multiply).

God’s intention, His Pro-Thesis from the beginning, is to synergeo with humans to make all things good. And God’s definition of “good,” very much includes increase, that is, overflowing abundance. Yet scarcity is part of reality, even God’s reality. You see, God NEEDS us, for only through God and us working together will goodness and increase come into the experience of all creation.

Causing or Preventing Wealth. There is a question often asked that is nonsensical. That question is – What is the cause of human poverty? The answer to that question is apparent and absolute. All infants have nothing and can obtain nothing. Poverty is universal and the fundamental state of all humans.

The real question is – What is the cause of human wealth?

But let’s begin with – What prevents human wealth? Human wealth and abundance is prevented by an enormous LIE that is actually first directed against God, that He is not-good. That lie is the argument, sometimes called “mercantilism” and sometimes called “Marxism,” that there is only a certain amount of stuff and that whatever you grab for yourself is always at the expense of someone else.

No-Property Is Theft. A Marxist statement is that “property is theft.” But compare the nation of Zaire with the nation of Switzerland. Zaire has great resources, but little support for private ownership of land. Switzerland has few resources, but immense support for private ownership. The people of Switzerland are among the wealthiest on earth and the people of Zaire among the poorest. And no, the Swiss did not “steal” their wealth from the Africans.

The truth is that “no-property” is theft, and the lack of property rights in Africa is a large part of what keeps many in the normal human state of poverty. “Property” means that I am secure in the integrity of my own labor, the very enemy of Marxism.

The Creation of Wealth. Essentially, humans themselves create wealth by ingenuity and by productivity. We define “wealth” as an abundance of all good and needful things – more than enough and overflowing, just as Jesus said. And most humans will create wealth, that is, act for self-benefit, when allowed.

Three things are needed for humans to be released to create wealth. First is the integrity of their property, that is, what I have made with my own hands is mine. Second is the certainty of contract, that a man’s word is his bond. And third is peace, that is, the absence of control by others, including the state, coming from violence. Inside such a society, humans become very prosperous. A study of the poorest societies in our world today will show an absence of those three things.

A Reciprocal Relationship. Do nothing according to rivalry or according to empty conceit, but in lowliness of mind esteem one another as better than yourself in full reciprocity, each considering not just your own things, but also the things of each other (Philippians 2:3-4).
Paul’s admonition cannot be fulfilled by the violence of the state, no matter how much they claim, “sharing and caring.” Neither can it be fulfilled by shaming people into doing things they would not do otherwise.

This relationship of considering each other’s property and choices as equal to one’s own is a reciprocal relationship that comes only out from the heart and operates only inside of a mutual integrity, respect, and trust.

Liberty. If you look carefully at the words and attitude of one who claims that choosing out from one’s own purposes and for self-benefit is SELFISHNESS, you will find the same old, same old thoughtless CONTEMPT for other people.

Contempt is the cause of all control and all subsequent poverty; respect is the cause of all peace and prosperity. Because I respect you, I expect that all your decisions will be your own, and that any mutual agreement between you and me will satisfy, that is, benefit, both of us fully.

This way of ordering society is called liberty. It is, in fact, the place into which we are bringing all creation. Liberty, therefore, begins with respect. Liberty places each individual human into respect. And liberty operates only out from respect. Liberty sees one another as the Lord Jesus and treats one another as they are Him.