This is a podcast from the archives of the BBC wreath lectures. This lecture in the series

The New Liberty, given by Ralph Daringdorf, was originally broadcast in 1974. In the first lecture,

I talked about liberty and why we have to think about it in a new light. A period of expansion,

economic and otherwise, is coming to a close.

The problems with which we are faced can be solved only if we change the subject and

concentrate on the improvement of our lives. In this lecture, I want to look rather more

closely at some of the questions raised by the change of theme.

Why is it that there are problems recognised by most, and even solutions for such problems,

and yet we do not seem to make any great progress?

Who is it who prevents our potential from becoming real, and who, on the other hand, gives us reason to hope that eventually we can succeed?

Let me begin by returning to the twin issues of inflation and the energy crisis, which are both urgent and telling.

The rise in oil prices has produced billions of vagabond petrodollars

coming up in odd places and in the process threatening the world's monetary system,

if not more.

Indeed, some of us find it hard to live with the absurd knowledge

that while one part of the world sinks into mass starvation,

another part collapses because it cannot cope with an abundance of money.

For even apart from the dictates of pure reason, there are solutions.

It is not totally unrealistic to think of a moderate reduction in the price of oil,

by which one quarter of the petrol dollars would disappear,

thus incidentally saving some countries from bankruptcy.

A further quarter could disappear if a concerted and worldwide policy of energy conservation was adopted,

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