Leonard E. Read's 1964 book argues people may do anything peaceful while government restrains force and fraud, a defensive role neither anarchist nor pacifist. Its organizing premise keeps moral responsibility with individuals inside every institution.
As a board, decent people back political takings they would never sponsor alone and blame the organization. Read's imagined parable of a chamber of commerce winning a municipal golf course at others' expense insists conscience cannot be delegated.
Read's pay rule lets each contribution to a house, whether labor, waiting, risk or location, earn what others willingly offer. The standard measures uncoerced pay, leaving moral desert unsettled.
Read's closing chapter argues nobody can design a good society; it comes as a dividend of excellence, by a Gospel principle he insists works at every level. That assurance rests on faith, leaving political results unmeasured.
The book suits readers examining the individual-responsibility case for voluntary institutions and its theology.
Identical copies of the 254-page 1964 interior sit at Towards Liberty, nostr.download and 24242.io; the 256-page Mises original scan adds modern covers.