Ever hear of Viktor Schreckengost?

by Don Boudreaux

Ever hear of Viktor Schreckengost? I hadn't heard of him until this morning when I read his obituary in the Washington Post. Mr. Schreckengost died recently, at the age of 101.

So why do I care? Why should you care?

I care and you should care because Mr. Schreckengost likely has done more to make your life better and pleasant than has nearly any of the politicians you can name. Measuring any one person's contributions to a society whose essence is vast and on-going social cooperation is inherently difficult and often speculative. Still, I'll speculate. I have a strong sense that the positive value of Viktor Schreckengost's contributions to human well-being exceeds that of FDR, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, any Kennedy or Bush, Kofi Annan, Nancy Pelosi, Tip O'Neill -- you name the political operative.

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