Mises knew that it is not enough to hold the right views, though this is an essential step. It is just as important to do everything possible to see that these views are propagated and made compelling in a way that will transform society and politics. And this is why he became an advocate of a new institution that would be dedicated to liberty. This institution, he hoped, would not only be a source of new ideas. It would work to bring them about and realize them within the affairs of the human population.
The marketplace for ideas is built entirely upon ideas that have been discovered, heralded, and disseminated, and thereby become part of the structure of the world in which we live. In the same way that an entrepreneur cannot be content to merely imagine a shopping mall or a new search engine, but must also see these dreams realized economically and then marketed, in that same way we must not and cannot be content to merely hold sound views. We must work to see them realized. FULL ARTICLE
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Dear Lew,
We are indebted to you for being the glue holding it all together.
With warm regards,
Bruce
Many thanks for the article.
“In short, if liberty is such a good idea, and if the Misesian tradition is so hot, why does it need our help?”
It needs our help, because the schools, the media and the two major parties do not advance the cause of liberty. Look at how the media is attempting to marginalize Ron Paul. They are taking his words and twisting them. Getting as many people as possible to read the material at Mises.org is the best form of damage control.
It’s important for libertarians to identify themselves as such. Compared to other people here at Mises, I would consider myself a libertarian on training wheels; yet, when I disclosed to a 17 year old kid that I and two others were libertarians, his eyes lit up and he said, “Wow, I didn’t know there were any of you guys around here.” I told him about this website.
We need to be more than just some shadowy figures that people have heard about, yet never met.
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