Taking for granted the fact that the hippie was part of a diverse group we called “hippies” who, in his varied states of mind, could not be counted upon to think or act like other hippies, there was, and still is, a certain type of hippie, a “hippie with a philosophy,” who actually lived the communal life. The philosophy of the communal hippie was
The great debate between Capitalism and Socialism has been settled, but we continue to experience an ever-expanding management of the U.S. economy, which itself is a form of socialism. Mises wrote in Socialism : “It is the aim of Socialism to transfer the means of production from private ownership to the ownership of the State.” Socialism, as
“The liberals of the eighteenth century were filled with a boundless optimism. Mankind is rational, which permits the right opinion to emerge in the end. Light will replace darkness Democracy with its freedom of thought, speech and press assures the success of the right doctrine. Let the masses decide; they will choose wiselyNobody would now
Statism is the primary theme of this year’s election. The political issues of the day are all approached from the interventionist point of view. For George Bush and Al Gore, it is not a matter of whether government should be running a social security scheme or not. It is only a matter of how government might save it. In the realm of health care,
In a U.S. presidential election where about 100 million votes are likely to be cast, what is the probability that your vote will be decisive in determining the outcome? Like it or not, the probability is pretty small---zero for all practical purposes. The probability hurdle is twofold. First, the presidential vote tally in your state would have
Appearing on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, July 30, Republican vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney endorsed the Clinton/Gore administration’s policy of energy socialism, only criticizing it as being insufficiently coercive and forceful. “We need a national energy policy,” said Cheney, apparently oblivious to the disastrous results of America’s
The Clinton/Gore administration’s policy of depleting the Strategic Oil Reserve to ostensibly hold down oil prices has been widely criticized by industry analysts, Alan Greenspan, and even Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers as being too insignificant to have any sizable effect on oil prices. “It’s a silly idea,” said Carl Weinberg, chief
The county-by-county electoral map published by USA Today showing that George W. Bush carried 2,434 counties covering 2.4 million square miles, compared to Al Gore’s 677 counties covering about a half million square miles, suggests that the worst fears of one of America’s greatest statesman and political philosopher, John C. Calhoun, may have
The hordes of lawyers that Al Gore has employed to help him try to overturn the presidential election through voter fraud are the latest example of how the rule of law is being destroyed. Florida election laws are clear as a bell in disallowing hand recounts unless there is fraud or machine failure, which Gore is not claiming is the case. The
The state needs to invent an endless series of myths about its powers and importance in order to exist, and there is no bigger myth than the notion that democratic governments are mere expressions of “the will of the people.” No matter how heinous the deeds performed by democratic governments, no matter how much property they steal or people they
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.