Posted on 12/27/2005 8:28:47 AM PST by FreeKeys
Skousen, Rand too hot for university library in Manila
We hear from Mark Skousen that he's none too popular at the University of the Philippines -- or rather, too popular. In an article posted at the Human Events site, he quotes a friend's report on the situation, a former Marxist turned around by a critique of Marx in one of his books.
Remember you sent me a box of The Making of Modern Economics?Skousen notes:
I donated a copy to the libraries of each of the four major universities here. Later, a friend of mine checked the library at the University of the Philippines and sure enough, they were there on the stacks. And had become a little dog-eared...meaning it had been read and read.Well, just yesterday she looked again -- and it was gone! Also all Rand's books have disappeared (they were in both the main library and the library of the College of Arts and Letters -- gone from both).
Also, the copy of your book had been heavily highlighted by the librarian -- complete with annotated comments disputing what you said....
Apparently, both you and Rand are too radical and revolutionary for tender young Filipino minds -- at least, according to their Marxist minders!
One of the most controversial chapters [of The Making of Modern Economics] is chapter 6, "Marx Plunges Economics into a New Dark Age." [The letter writer had been] a member of a Communist front student organization at University of the Philippines, but was so impressed with my critique of Marx that he typed the entire chapter into an email and sent it to all his Marxist friends and sociology professor. As a result, they all abandoned Marxism in favor of free-market economics, including his professor.
WOW! I'd never before heard of a book turning so many people around just like that!
I've always liked what Skousen writes, but I've also found him to be rather self-promoting in the media (a rather odd habit for an economist!).
Gee, you'd almost think he was a capitalist or something.
How'd I get on this ping list???
I came to think that the natural progression would be to prove
to them that individuality causes the egalitarian assumption of
communism to be false and therefore many might be persuaded
to turn away from it.
I don't remember. Just say the word, and you're off of it.
Thanks for the ping, FreeKeys! I'll need to secure a copy!
I don't know if that's valid or not, but it does occur to me that many communists, libertarians and laissez-faire capitalists are similar in epistemology (capable of, enjoying, and insisting on, rigorous philosophical consistency) although vastly different, often diametrically opposed, in metaphysics and in ethics.
Many commies have been converted by their discovering the flaws in their ethics ("What? You mean the absolute self-sacrifice in all things as demanded by pure altruism is NOT the only moral code available to mankind??????) and others, as in the main post above, by discovering the flaws in their metatphysics (What? You mean that incentive systems will ALWAYS matter and that human nature canNOT be changed by brainwashing or any other technique to turn humans into enthusiastic slaves of the state?????).
I just started Thomas Sowell's "Applied Economics - Thinking Beyond Stage One". I will pick up Skousen's book next.
Just imagine if
the email guy instead sent
John's speech from this book!
That speech is tough for even a fan to get through...
"That speech is tough for even a fan to get through..."
With you there BUMP.
The email would've bounced due to a file size restriction.
You bet. Cleon is Mark's uncle
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