“In working with leftists against the draft and the Vietnam War,” writes Rothbard in this passionate article, “I never had the absurd notion of converting them to capitalism, either sneakily (as Efron would have it) or otherwise…. We are living in the real world, where facts are important.” FULL ARTICLE by Murray N. Rothbard
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/14803/the-plumb-line-the-efron-affair/
The Plumb Line: The Efron Affair
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“We are now an adult movement, we are dealing with grown-up things, and moving around in the real world, where facts are important. We are making an impact on the mainstream of American life, and we have just begun.” Ca. 1978
Ca. 2010… Really? Would have been nice if it was true. Does anybody have any thoughts on why libatarianism and the Libatarian party have been so ineffectual in reversing the statist trend in this country or any other?
Brian
Libertariamism has had an effect on mainstream American life. Its influence is becoming more pronouced with time as more people become aware of it. Still, reversing the prevalent statist social trend takes time. That isn’t going to happen in a day.
My take, is that the US global empire is in collapse. As that process proceeds there is much suffering and hardship for many individuals, with much more to come. The choice soon needs to be made. It is this one- libertarianism or collectivism. To make the choice, one needs to know what is at stake and what the nature of the options actually is. So far most do not. The task for libertarians is to bring the principles of libertarianism to the attention of as many other individuals as possible. That takes time and effort. I’d rather be exerting myself doing this, after all it is about telling the truth, rather than worrying about how statism always trends into utter failure and the defeat of those who embrace it.
Sione
Sione,
Thank you for the reply. Though I wish that I could agree with you I just do not see any evidence for a slow down in the statist trends. Remember Mr. Rothbard made that statement I quoted in 1978. All I see is massive growth in goverment power (see TSA, Food Safety Act, bank bailouts,…) and scope. Even Ronald Reagan, who for a mainstream politican proabably came the closest to identifying with libaterian principals, made not one dent in the encroaching leviathan.
I don’t mean to sound like a downer but I would honestly like to know why a message of liberty is not resonating with the American people. Has the public school system crushed the ability of most people to engage in critical thinking? Has Dewey and his desciples finally realized the fruits of there efforts over a century later?
Brian,
I have pondered this myself and here are some observations.
1)The biggest obstacle, sadly, is democracy.
A system built on the concept of majority rules and a representative democracy at that, offers little for individual liberty. In the end, everyone sells everybody else out…liberty doesn’t have a chance in that environment.
2)Unsound money/inflation-it is my belief there is a relationship between money and morality.
History proves over and over again that societies that devalue their currency essentially devalue their society. Eventually, consciously or unconsciously, people make daily (economic, psychological, and ethical) decisions through their view of money. Things like divorce, welfare, not having children, drug abuse, promiscuity, speculation, violence, theft, “why work, can’t get ahead”, or “live for today” are all outcomes and attitudes of society built on monetary inflation. How can there be respect for property when there’s no respect for the currency? Liberty has no chance in that kind of environment.
3)The Libertarian party and Libertarians in general are the most inept marketers of their ideas.
Most, are all or nothing when it comes to discussion. We like to air our philosophical hatred of each other in public. Few have any political savvy and notoriously say the stupidest things at the most inopportune times (i.e. Rand Paul-Civil Rights Act). We have had our asses kicked by everybody who can convey single-issue politics (i.e. environmentalists). Liberty has very little chance as a political party.
4)And last but not least…liberty is a hard sell.
It challenges everything that is emotional and unfortunately, that is part of being human. It takes great reflection, introspection and tolerance to truly be libertarian. You have to constantly check your emotions. You need to be almost contrarian when viewing the world. It is an incredible discipline that only the very few can understand and master. Even here, at mises.org, there are only a few that truly bleed libertarian. Most want to dip their toe in but when they fear sharks they run to shore seeking the safety of the lifeguard called government.
The best we can do is to write and speak out. It took Christianity over a thousand years to become dominate. It will take us much longer. At present, the best we can do is be a wrench in the machine….but we will never be the machine.
And that’s something we can all take pride in.
I propose that “some” are afraid to say their Liberatarian because of being refered to as a “liberal”. Which is most likly being mis- used as “socialist”. It’s the” image” of what the right or left want a person or group to believe. It’s as Hayek explains as a tactic for socialism.
This is a great way to advertise books on Mises: putting parts of them on the website.
Whoever chooses the sections from books to put up here, you are doing a great job.
I love Rothbard mostly for his personality. He seems like he would have been a good comedian or showman. I am also a fan of Frank Zappa: he is so funny and sincere. The world needs more of those folks.
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