[This article is excerpted from the introduction to The Rise and Fall of Society , available in hardcover , paperback , PDF , and ePub .] Collectivism is more than an idea. In itself, an idea is nothing but a toy of speculation, a mental idol. Since, as the myth holds, the suprapersonal Society is replete with possibilities, the profitable
[From chapter 8 of The Rise and Fall of Society by Frank Chodorov .] As everyone knows, an analogy is neither evidence nor proof. And yet, since Aristotle it has been common practice among political scientists to call upon an analogy to support a theory of the origin of Government; namely, that Government grew out of the organization of
[Writing about Frank Chodorov, Murray Rothbard wrote , “Frank’s final flowering was his last ideological testament, the brilliantly written The Rise and Fall of Society , published in 1959, at the age of 72.” What follows is the introduction.] What history will think of our times is something that only history will tell. But it is a good
“I have led a singularly uneventful life, largely solitary, have had little to do with the great and no part whatever in their affairs, or for that matter, in any other affairs.” So wrote Albert Jay Nock in the preface to his last book, Memoirs of a Superfluous Man . He wasn’t being modest; he meant it. And he did not believe anybody would
“The Judgment of Solomon” Gustave Doré (1832–1883) “In those days,” we are told in Judges 17:6, “there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” To be able to do that which is right in one’s own eyes is to be free, and freedom was the way of life among the Israelites before the coming of the kings. Yet,
[This article is excerpted from One Is a Crowd . Robert LeFevre also gave a lecture on the biblical Joseph: “First Secretary of Agriculture” ( available in MP3 in Mises Media ).] Long, long before Freud, a fellow named Joseph got himself a reputation as an interpreter of dreams. So, when all the PhD’s of Egypt failed him, Pharaoh sent for this
[Chapter XVIII, Out of Step ] The dogma that the State or the Government is the embodiment of all that is good and beneficial and that the individuals are wretched underlings, exclusively intent upon inflicting harm upon one another and badly in need of a guardian, is almost unchallenged. It is taboo to question it in the slightest way. He who
[This article is excerpted from chapter 9 of The Rise and Fall of Society .] Dionysius, the storied tyrant of Syracuse, was a consummate financier. His gift stood him in good stead on the day he found himself in bankrupt condition, having borrowed from the citizenry more than he could repay. He might have increased taxes and satisfied his
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