Tag Archives: 6b) Mises.org

[A selection from Nation, State, and Economy. Editor’s note: When Mises refers to “liberals” or “liberalism” he means the ideology of laissez-faire, sometimes now called “classical liberalism.”] Marxism sees the coming of socialism as an inescapable necessity. Even if one were willing to grant the correctness of this opinion, one still would by no means be bound to embrace socialism. It may be that despite everything we cannot escape socialism, yet whoever considers...

Why don’t elections bring harmony and closure rather than ever greater political friction? Hans-Hermann Hoppe explained all of the fundamental problems with mass democracy more than 20 years ago in Democracy: The God That Failed. Jeff Deist finishes his series on this devastating classic with a look at Hoppe’s final chapters, critiquing conservatism, liberalism, and constitutionalism. Why do both conservatism and liberalism fail? (hint: democratic mechanisms)....

[A Selection from Liberalism: In the Classical Tradition.] Equality Nowhere is the difference between the reasoning of the older liberalism and that of neoliberalism clearer and easier to demonstrate than in their treatment of the problem of equality. The liberals of the eighteenth century, guided by the ideas of natural law and of the Enlightenment, demanded for everyone equality of political and civil rights because they assumed that all men are equal. God created...

Although he was a scholar with degrees in mathematics and economics, Murray Rothbard was very much a fan of the American layman. Indeed, he was a populist both in temperament and in his political views. In a 1992 column outlining his populist strategy, Rothbard noted the importance of reaching out to the general public and especially to those groups that were most negatively impacted by state power: This two-pronged strategy is (a) to build up a cadre of our own...

The fact that some Americans supported slavery in the eighteenth century is not at all remarkable. Most of the world agreed with them. What is remarkable is that many of them sought to abolish slavery in the new republic. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. Original Article: “No, the American Republic Was Not Founded on Slavery“. You Might Also Like...

Journalistic propaganda is a powerful instrument of indoctrination. Without evidence, foul ideas can easily penetrate mainstream discourse. For instance, recently it has become fashionable to posit that slavery is America’s original sin. To sensible people, this is a risible claim, because there is nothing particularly American about slavery. But revisiting the history of slavery in non-Western societies in Asia and Africa would do little to change the minds of...

Why did Murray Rothbard embrace populism and why did he think it could work to limit the power of the state? In short, Rothbard believed that a small elite had seized the power of the state to fleece and oppress the majority. Rothbard was in part basing his ideas on the historical narrative of the Democratic populists of the nineteenth century who formed the party of sound money, low taxes, and decentralized power. This laissez-faire party also managed to win a lot...

The Democrats, Liz Cheney, and the Never Trumpers still want endless wars, and they hate Trump’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for embracing their dreams of empire. This Audio Mises Wire is generously sponsored by Christopher Condon. Narrated by Michael Stack. Original Article: “On Foreign Policy, Trump Is Still the Lesser Evil“. You Might Also Like Walter Berns and the Cult of “Patriotic” Sacrifice [unable...

Does it matter if we call irreversibly comatose patients “dead?” Our guest is Doyen Nguyen, OP, MD, STD. Dr. Nguyen was previously an academic hemato-pathologist and is currently a Catholic moral theologian and bioethicist. She has authored books and articles both in medicine and in moral theology/bioethics and authored a 600-page monograph that takes a critical look at brain death from a variety of perspectives. SHOW NOTES Nguyen D. The New Definition of Death...

Bob unveils a new series in which he explains and then evaluates apparent contradictions in the way free-market libertarians handle certain issues. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Bastiat’s “Petition of the Candlemakers” Bob’s article on price gouging For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS. You Might Also Like...