1. Total War The market economy involves peaceful cooperation. The division of labor cannot function effectively amidst a war. Warfare among primitive tribes did not suffer this drawback because the warring parties had not been engaged in trade before the hostilities. Thus they engaged in total war. Things were different in Europe (before the
It is a testament to the power of government propaganda that several generations of self-described conservatives have held as their core belief that war and militarism are consistent with limited, constitutional government. These conservatives think they are “defending freedom” by supporting every military adventure that the state concocts. They
In an essay entitled “Lincoln, the Declaration, and Secular Puritanism: A Rhetoric for Continuing Revolution,” the late Professor Mel Bradford explained the ideological genesis of American foreign and military policy that has existed since 1861. Abraham Lincoln’s “erroneous understanding of the Declaration of Independence” as espoused in his
In his famous 1898 essay, “The Conquest of the United States by Spain,” the great Yale University libertarian scholar William Graham Sumner argued that America had crossed the Rubicon, so to speak, and had become an imperialistic empire. It had become the Spanish empire. But Sumner was only half right. The conquest of Cuba was an imperialistic
Thomas DiLorenzo’s Mises Academy class on imperialism and anti-imperialism begins tonight, September 9, and continues for five weeks. Register now. After the American “Civil War,” the Republican Party, which for the succeeding half century would enjoy monopolistic political power matched only by the Bolsheviks in Russia, set about to deify Abraham
“War is the health of the state.” These famous words of Randolph Bourne have been confirmed throughout the course of American history. This course will examine the origins of a number of America’s wars. In each case, we will study the real origins of the war and compare this with the officially circulated mythology. All too often, America’s wars
This interview was originally published by the Rutherford Institute. John W. Whitehead : There is no end to discussion of John Locke’s impact on the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence lists our inalienable rights to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” and the
Investors Business Daily February 19, 1999 It goes by many names: national service, selective service, conscription, the draft. All four have been heard in recent discussions in Washington about the military’s staffing problems. The All Volunteer Force is facing its toughest trial in its 26-year history. The Navy is 22,000 sailors short of its
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.