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Excerpt from Socialism, by Ludwig von Mises
Mises Institute free book ^ | 1932 | Ludwig von Mises

Posted on 12/28/2014 6:00:12 AM PST by theBuckwheat

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You cannot fight what you do not understand. The socialist mindset works to destroy the liberty and prosperity of everyone, except of course the self-appointed elites in charge. I encourage everyone to read this free book.
1 posted on 12/28/2014 6:00:12 AM PST by theBuckwheat
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To: theBuckwheat

Why didn’t minds like this make their way into our universities? Instead, we got all the asshats from the Frankfurt School. I don’t think we will ever recover.


2 posted on 12/28/2014 6:16:11 AM PST by GreensKeeperWillie (There are things so foolish that only intellectuals can believe them. - George Orwell)
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To: theBuckwheat

Defining “just” distribution is always the challenge and why socialism fails every time it is tried.


3 posted on 12/28/2014 6:18:07 AM PST by FatherofFive (Islam is evil and must be eradicated)
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To: theBuckwheat

ping


4 posted on 12/28/2014 6:21:01 AM PST by gattaca ("To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven." - Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJ))
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To: theBuckwheat

Mises should get a posthumous Nobel in economics. One can dream.


5 posted on 12/28/2014 6:22:48 AM PST by all the best
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To: theBuckwheat

What I find interesting is that when this book was originally written in 1932, socialism was still being justified because it would make the economy run better. Now it is justified because it would make society more “just”. Of course what goes unsaid is that the socialist elites expect to have the monopoly power on defining what is just and what is not. This is how they were forced to shift their message in light of the horrible destruction of life and property over the decades in the Soviet Union, Cambodia, The People’s Republic of China, North Korea, all of which at one time or another attempted to achieve the perfect Marxist economies.

But this river of blood and tears has not stopped people like those at the head of the (D) party (and sadly many at the head of the (R) party too) from doing all they could to advance the socialist mindset here.


6 posted on 12/28/2014 6:27:06 AM PST by theBuckwheat
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To: theBuckwheat

When you quote Mises or Hayek at a leftist, he/she will run for the garlic, a mirror and a stake. Those are the only economists the left actually dreads and fears: Their writings cause the left both traumatizing public embarrassment and painful cognitive dissonance in the privacy of their heads.


7 posted on 12/28/2014 6:42:38 AM PST by sourcery (Without the right to self defense, there can be no rights at all.)
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To: sourcery

You could Friedman to that list for a trifecta.


8 posted on 12/28/2014 6:43:50 AM PST by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: all the best

Oh there is a dream come true, in a pigs eye, but hey in our world...


9 posted on 12/28/2014 6:51:02 AM PST by wita
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To: FatherofFive
Defining “just” distribution is always the challenge and why socialism fails every time it is tried.

Yes, and "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" sounds really fair and wonderful, until you realize that a faceless bureaucrat gets to decide what your ability is, and what your needs are!

10 posted on 12/28/2014 7:17:20 AM PST by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: theBuckwheat

Good stuff, thanks for sharing!


11 posted on 12/28/2014 7:20:21 AM PST by aynrandfreak (Being a Democrat means never having to say you're sorry)
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To: theBuckwheat
Yet, the socialist idea is nothing but grandiose rationalization of petty resentments.

This helps explain why leftists are unwilling to condemn jihadis: they are both dedicated to destructionism and regress. They both operate by the motive of raw power.

Lord Acton said that "liberty is the delicate fruit of a mature civilization." These groups are dedicated to consuming the fruit, cutting off the branches, and stunting civilization.

Don't get me started.

12 posted on 12/28/2014 7:37:59 AM PST by 9thLife
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To: FatherofFive; theBuckwheat
Defining “just” distribution is always the challenge and why socialism fails every time it is tried.

Exactly. It is neither just nor fair to steal from individuals the proceeds gained, i.e., financial and other private property accumulated, through time and by education, experience, effort, mistakes, labor, creativity, invention, investments, diligence, persistence and inheritance, and reallocates by force those proceeds to unnamed others by unnamed others, none of whom had any part in the creation of those proceeds or good results.

If unnamed others were indeed to "justly" or "rightly" lay claim to these good results from individuals and thereby steal from the producers and offspring for whom individuals strive to provide necessities and comforts, the very incentive to do more and produce more, or cause to be produced, is also stolen.

The reverse of the argument equally cannot be said to be either just or right to force unnamed others to reimburse individuals or entities for their failings and shortcomings. This country has done that, by the way, a la welfare and "too big to fail."

How just or right is it when 47% of the population is now provided the incentive to live in perpetual welfare and are, in effect, stealing from the hard work of a shrinking number of producers, from cradle to grave?

How just or right is it when banks or corporations engage in unsound, illegal, and risky business practices knowing that the elitists in the District of Criminals will steal tax dollars from hard working individuals and reward these unnamed others for their immoral and poor choices by bailing them out?

In both cases, it begets feelings of entitlement and greed and leads to laziness, selfishness, corruption, and filthy lucre with a multitude of unnamed others.

In both cases, it rewards what is immoral and punishes what is virtuous for all because that is the result of both socialism and communism.

13 posted on 12/28/2014 7:46:04 AM PST by nicmarlo
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To: theBuckwheat

“A HARD rain is gonna fall”... actually is already falling..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4sMSSm0x2A


14 posted on 12/28/2014 8:19:20 AM PST by hosepipe (" This propaganda has been edited (specifically) to include some fully orbed hyperbole.. ")
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To: theBuckwheat
Such a policy of destructionism means the consumption of capital.

Along with capital decumulation,which leads to economic stagnation or regression,which leads to progressive impoverishment,a policy of government control over production and distribution is destructive, also, because it leads to economic chaos,a system of forced labor for some,aristocratic privilege for others,the necessity of terror, force, and brutality,and totalitarian tyranny.

15 posted on 12/28/2014 8:21:27 AM PST by mjp ((pro-{God, reality, reason, egoism, individualism, natural rights, limited government, capitalism}))
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To: all the best
Mises should get a posthumous Nobel in economics. One can dream.

I have most of Mises books. I would easily rate his genius to be equal to that of Einstein.

He was a towering intellect. He was also very humble.

He is the one who turned Hayek away from Fabian Socialism.

16 posted on 12/28/2014 8:41:23 AM PST by sand88 (We can never legislate our way back to Liberty)
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To: theBuckwheat
I encourage everyone to read this free book.

I do too. It is a masterpiece. I have most of Mises works. Human Action is another masterpiece, although a difficult read.

Bureacracy is another great read -- a small book.

17 posted on 12/28/2014 8:47:03 AM PST by sand88 (We can never legislate our way back to Liberty)
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To: theBuckwheat
"In fact Socialism is not in the least what it pretends to be. It is not the pioneer of a better and finer world, but the spoiler of what thousands of years of civilization have created..."

It is also a cover for Tyranny...imho.

18 posted on 12/28/2014 8:47:56 AM PST by yoe
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To: GreensKeeperWillie
Why didn’t minds like this make their way into our universities? Instead, we got all the asshats from the Frankfurt School.

Our universities are filled with vile evil leftists.

When Von Mises came to America he could not get any teaching position at any prestigious university. Even back then the leftists socialist professors dominated our Econ departments.

He has to accept a lowly position at, I believe, NYC University.

Von Mises was pure genius.

19 posted on 12/28/2014 8:51:46 AM PST by sand88 (We can never legislate our way back to Liberty)
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To: nicmarlo
How just or right is it when 47% of the population is now provided the incentive to live in perpetual welfare...

If I were in charge, people on welfare or food stamps would not be able to vote.

20 posted on 12/28/2014 9:04:49 AM PST by FatherofFive (Islam is evil and must be eradicated)
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