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| Richard Ebeling |
Dear Bob,
My new article on the website of the Future of Freedom Foundation is on, “The Political and Economic Mystiques of State Power.”
One of the mysteries of human history is how a handful of rulers succeed in gaining the loyalty and obedience of large numbers of subjects and citizens, when historically the origin of the state has been in conquest and plunder, and continues to be used for coerced redistribution of wealth through taxes and regulations.
An attempt to answer this question was offered by the, now, little known French philosopher and
classical liberal economist, Louis Rougier, in two books published in the 1930s on the political and economic “mystiques” of modern times.
In revealing and insightful ways, Rougier dissected the cultural, social and often seemingly irrational beliefs held by many that leaders have a right to rule and command, especially under the “democratic mystique” that the people “rule themselves” through the representatives elected to political office. And how and why many blindly accept various “economic mystiques” that governments can successfully achieve virtually any interventionist or planning goal if enough money and authority is provided to those in political power.
Rougier’s analysis still has relevancy for us in own time with its new “mystiques” of gender, race and ethnic “identity politics,” which carries within them the same totalitarian tendencies about which Rougier was so concerned in that earlier world of the 1930s that then confronted the political and economic mystiques of communism, fascism and Nazism.
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/political-economic-mystiques-state-power/
Best,
Richard
This is very skillfully crafted and presents a compelling re-examination of modern mystique's in a way that underscores the insidious unwelcome liberal juggernaut that is democracy!
ReplyDeleteIt is a must read short piece that will upon further reflection offer clarity at the current height of noise and lunacy! Thank you sincerely Richard and as always to Robert for the platform.
--- Rougier dissected the cultural, social and often seemingly irrational beliefs held by many that leaders have a right to rule and command, especially under the “democratic mystique” that the people “rule themselves” through the representatives elected to political office. ---
ReplyDeleteThat's where the other myth, that "Deez is a Nation Of Lawz®, dammit!", the usual fall-back argument for most xenophobes, comes from. And a myth it is. Laws are always applied inconsistently by officials and the courts. Most laws contain sufficiently vague or contradictory labguage that turns compliance into a guessing game. In essence, that turns this into a nation of regulators and enforcers, not one of "Lawz®".
That "a Nation of Laws" is a myth can be seen as a good thing. Especially as the register bloats. Justice should be the goal. Man and our languages are imperfect so must be dealt with accordingly.
DeleteI am not saying what we have now is the best way, just making a point about a Nation of Laws.