Voltaire’s Candide was published just four years after the devastating 1759 Lisbon earthquake that destroyed the entire city and took 30,000-50,000 lives. It’s a story of personal hardships, torture, and even suffocation that befell the central character Candide and a small band of associates who made a venturous and decidedly painful tour with him.
Following the horrible tragedy that just befell our Capitol, the pain and suffering associated with it, and the stumbling search for a way to heal our divided nation, Candide’s tale may offer some hope.
Voltaire’s story was inspired by the notion that all was surely not well in this world and that there was no tragedy-eliminating natural harmony that we humans could count on to reduce life’s hardships. Voltaire’s lesson comes at the end of the story, when Candide’s small surviving band makes it home to his farm. Bruised, beaten, and maimed, they discuss what they may do next.
After considering various options and consulting with a holy man, Candide offers a simple piece of advice: “We must cultivate our garden.” And they do. Instead of trying to struggle against the evil forces that befell them, each member of Candide’s small band goes to work in the garden. They specialize and together produce more than enough to satisfy their needs. They flourish.
What can we as a nation do to cultivate our garden? Are there some basic economic lessons that we can apply?
When facing questions like these, I try to consider some of the foundation stones of economics that represent, in their own way, wisdom of the ages. As readers of this space know, I turn to Adam Smith for advice. Smith urges each one of us to focus on the desires and needs of others, to figure out how we can serve them, and then to produce goods and services for other people. He advises that by doing so, we may flourish.
Another one of Smith’s fundamental insights relates to getting along with people and how that can relate to long-run prosperity. Smith talks about the “impartial spectator,” the man within the breast, a disinterested observer who judges our behavior and steers us in a more noble direction. He suggests that this spectator is formed from life’s experiences, learning about social norms and civil behavior.
In a way, these two foundational ideas are tied together. To survive and prosper, we must be others-oriented people. We must tend our gardens so that we satisfy our own needs and the needs of others.
Well, all this sounds pretty good, but what about our government and devastated Capitol?
Smith argued that none of this garden-tending business would work very well unless there is order, protection of life and property, provided by government. In the immediate case, this would include providing adequate protection for people who come together in Washington or anywhere else. It would also include the provision of public health protection from a virus that has, putting fear in our hearts, caused us to withdraw from normal commercial activities and pull away from our gardens. These fundamental public sector functions must be done diligently so that each one of us can spend more time working, producing, and satisfying our needs and the needs of others.
So as a new administration takes charge, this will be a time first to provide order and protect the public. Yes, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout must be accelerated. Yes, public places must be made secure. And yes, those who have been injured by the coronavirus and other disruptions must be assisted.
After that, we must focus on our home place, our neighborhoods, and things we can do something about. We must cultivate our gardens.
Bruce Yandle is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a distinguished adjunct fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and dean emeritus of the Clemson University College of Business & Behavioral Science. He developed the “Bootleggers and Baptists” political model.
