Topic: Who’s Afraid of a Free Society?

[Ultra]

Having read quite a few of Tom Woods books I look forward to this tome.  Here's to hoping you check it out as well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596981415

======================================================================

Today is the release date for my new book, Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse. It could just as easily have been called Everything Needs to Be Abolished, and Here’s Why.

The book does two things. First, it lays bare the true fiscal position of the U.S. government, and shows why some kind of default is not merely possible but inevitable. But this is not a book full of numbers about the impending collapse. The collapse is merely the jumping-off point. By far the more central part of the book is this: the critical first step for reversing this mess and checking the seemingly unstoppable federal advance is to stick a dagger through the heart of the myths by which government has secured the confidence and consent of the people.

We know these myths by heart. Government acts on behalf of the public good. It keeps us safe. It protects us against monopolies. It provides indispensable services we could not provide for ourselves. Without it, America would be populated by illiterates, half of us would be dead from quack medicine or exploding consumer products, and the other half would lead a feudal existence under the iron fist of private firms that worked them to the bone for a dollar a week.

Thus Americans tolerate much government predation because they have bought into the myth that state intervention may be an irritant, but the alternative of a free society would be far worse. They have been conditioned to believe that despite whatever occasional corruption they may observe in politics, the government by and large has their well-being at heart. Schoolchildren in particular learn a version of history worthy of Pravda. Governments, they are convinced, abolished child labor, gave people good wages and decent working conditions; protect them from bad food, drugs, airplanes, and consumer products; have cleaned their air and water; and have done countless other things to improve their well-being. They truly cannot imagine how anyone who isn’t a stooge for industry could think differently, or how free people acting in the absence of compulsion and threats of violence – which is what government activity amounts to – might have figured out a way to solve these problems. The history of regulation is, in this fact-free version of events, a tale of righteous crusaders winning victories for the public against grasping and selfish private interests who care nothing for the common good.

But let’s suppose that the federal government has in fact been an enemy of the people’s welfare, and that the progress in our living standards has occurred quite in spite of its efforts. It pits individuals, firms, industries, regions, races, and age groups against each other in a zero-sum game of mutual plunder. It takes credit for improvements in material conditions that we in fact owe to the private sector, while refusing to accept responsibility for the countless failures and social ills to which its own programs have given rise. Rather than bringing about the "public good," whatever that means, it governs us through a series of fiefdoms seeking bigger budgets and more power. Despite the veneer of public-interest rhetoric by which it camouflages its real nature, it is a mere parasite on productive activity and a net minus in the story of human welfare.

Now if this is a more accurate depiction of the federal government, we are likely to have a different view of the consequences of the coming fiscal collapse. So an institution that has seized our wealth, held back the rise in our standard of living, and deceived schoolchildren into honoring it as the source of all progress, will have to be cut back? What’s the catch? This is no calamity to be deplored. It is an opportunity to be seized. The primary purpose of the book, therefore, is to demonstrate that we would not only survive but even flourish in the absence of countless institutions we are routinely told we could not live without.

And with the exception of the final chapter, that’s what the rest of the book does. I wanted it to be a relentless presentation, such that even a skeptical reader would have to be impressed by the sheer number and force of the arguments.

Some of the topics covered include:

    * Could we survive without the welfare state?
    * Was the Industrial Revolution a disaster for workers, and evidence of the wickedness of the free market?
    * The market vs. global poverty
    * How the market, in spite (not because) of government, leads to higher living standards for everyone
    * How the market leads to improved working conditions and does away with child labor
    * Federal education programs: a critique
    * Doesn’t Sweden prove a large welfare state is compatible with lasting prosperity?
    * If government shrinks, won’t big business fill the void and oppress the public via predatory pricing?
    * Why it’s impossible to design a wealth redistribution program that does not cause net harm
    * The truth about "affordable housing" programs
    * Iceland and the financial crisis: a case study of free markets run amok?
    * California energy "deregulation" – proof that free markets don’t work?
    * Is the Savings & Loan (S&L) crisis evidence of the failure of free markets?
    * The real record of Sarbanes-Oxley
    * OSHA and workplace safety
    * The FDA
    * Don’t we need to make an exception for government science funding?
    * A primer on the War on Drugs
    * Obamacare: the problems and the solution
    * Why "stimulus" programs make things worse
    * How prudential regulation contributed to the financial crisis
    * Are some firms "too big to fail"?
    * Did the "repeal" of Glass-Steagall contribute to the financial crisis?
    * The real story of "deregulation" and the financial crisis
    * Is Paul Krugman right to absolve Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of blame?
    * The Pentagon’s impact on the U.S. economy
    * Has the Federal Reserve really made the U.S. economy more stable, as so many proponents try to claim?
    * What caused the bank panics of the nineteenth century? Are they evidence of the need for a central bank?
    * The separation of money and state
    * Do we need the Fed to protect us from deflation?
    * Regulation as an anti-competitive device
    * Possible approaches: agorism, jury nullification, Free State Project, and more

One of the goals in writing my books has been to help get people up to speed on important issues as efficiently (and, I hope, enjoyably) as possible. (In fact, much of what I write comes down to this: what do I wish I myself had known 20 years ago, so that I wouldn’t have had to come by all this information so laboriously on my own?) That way people can more easily prepare themselves to answer many of the most common objections to their position they are likely to encounter.

That’s what I’m trying to do in Rollback as well. The propaganda with which we are flooded regarding how indispensable the political class is – why, they are selflessly devoted to "public service"! – is unworthy of a fifth-grader. We would not die instantly in the absence of the Joe Bidens and Mitch McConnells. We would flourish. And here’s the proof.

February 7, 2011

Thomas E. Woods, Jr. [send him mail; visit his website], a senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, is the author of eleven books, most recently Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse and Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century, as well as the New York Times bestsellers Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse and The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. He is also the editor of five other books, including the just-released Back on the Road to Serfdom.

Copyright © 2011 Thomas Woods

[DeAutogids]

I am very interested in reading this.

Child labour is commonly attributed to the industrial revolution. Before that, of course, there was child labour, but it seems that it wasn't used to the extend factories did. Now I am very interested to see why the abolishment of child labour is not the work of governments. I am very interested to see why it still exists in countries where there are no such rules.

I understood that the Obama health care bill was to make health care more affordable. I understood that in the US of A when you got sick and you had no insurance, you could possibly having less health care, of that it would potentioally financially ruin you. Many people did not want to see a doctor because it would cost them time off and money, so they would only go when it potentially was too late. I am not sure why you would be against it?

[Ray B.]

I won't start to debate all this. I believe it would be a waist of time.

Child labour is commonly attributed to the industrial revolution. Before that, of course, there was child labour, but it seems that it wasn't used to the extend factories did. Now I am very interested to see why the abolishment of child labour is not the work of governments. I am very interested to see why it still exists in countries where there are no such rules.

But I can advise you to read 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, a book by an economist named Ha-Joon Chang, of which I took this excerpt.
There may be answers in it, and at least there is one to what you point about child labor.

In 1819 new legislation to regulate child labor, the Cotton Factories Regulation Act, was tabled in the British Parliament. The proposed regulation was incredibly "light touch" by modern standards. It would ban the employment of young children – that is, those under the age of nine. Older children (aged between ten and sixteen) would still be allowed to work, but with their working hours restricted to twelve per day (yes, they were really going soft on those kids). The new rules applied only to cotton factories, which were recognized to be exceptionally hazardous to workers’ health.

The proposal caused huge controversy. Opponents saw it as undermining the sanctity of freedom of contract and thus destroying the very foundation of the free market. In debating this legislation, some members of the House of Lords objected to it on the grounds that "labor ought to be free." Their argument said: the children want (and need) to work, and the factory owners want to employ them; what is the problem?

Today, even the most ardent free-market proponents in Britain or other rich countries would not think of bringing child labor back as part of the market liberalization package that they so want. However, until the late 19th or the early 20th century, when the first serious child labor regulations were introduced in Europe and North America, many respectable people judged child labour regulation to be against the principles of the free market.

Thus seen, the "freedom" of a market is, like beauty, in the eyes of the beholder. If you believe that the right of children not to have to work is more important than the right of factory owners to be able to hire whoever they find most profitable, you will not see a ban on child labor as an infringement on the freedom of the labor market. If you believe the opposite, you will see an "unfree" market, shackled by a misguided government regulation.

 Ha-Joon Chang is  teacher at Cambridge University. "There is no such thing as a free market" is the title of his first chapter

[Ultra]

Blurbs like yours leave out so much while applying a 21st century perspective to early 19th century life.  I would rather eat than not work.  The right of children to eat is, to me, a lot more significant than the right of children not to work.  I wonder what options those children and their families had in 1819 to get their food, clothes and shelter that were more attractive than "working."   (When did "working" become a bad thing?)

I have read Ha-Joon Chang. I am familiar with Development economics.  You should read Thomas Woods.  You should familiarize yourself with Austrian Economics.

Some recommended economics readings from Thomas Woods.  Notice the Development Economics section and compare and contrast what is there with Ha-Joon Chang.  Very informative.

================================================

http://www.lewrockwell.com/woods/woods98.html

Learning for Liberty

by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.


So much to read and learn, and so little time. Thanks in no small measure to the energy that Ron Paul's candidacy unleashed, more people than ever are eager to cut through the propaganda and uncover the truth. But where to start? And how can you get the most out of the time you have to devote to reading and study?

I put together the resources that follow as my way of answering these questions. I've included books (many in free online versions) and articles, as well as audio and video files that are also free. For the current crisis, see especially The Bailout Reader. Take a look also at the reading list Dr. Paul includes in his book The Revolution: A Manifesto. Many of these titles also appear in the categories below: economics, sound money, foreign policy, the Constitution, and civil liberties.

Can we read our way to freedom? No, but we cannot be effective activists in the Ron Paul tradition unless we know some economics and history, and the various depredations, foreign and domestic, of the regime.

Economics

These three books, all relatively short and available online or for purchase, are an excellent starting point for an education in sound economics.

    Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt; online here
    Essentials of Economics by Faustino Ballvé; online here (.pdf)
    An Introduction to Austrian Economics by Thomas C. Taylor; online here and here (.pdf)

A useful companion to Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson is this series of videos, recorded in July—August 2008, in which various professors comment on each of the book's chapters — explaining the argument, elaborating on it, and applying it to present conditions.

    Video 1: The Lesson
    Video 2: The Broken Window
    Video 3: Public Works Mean Taxes
    Video 4: Credit Diverts Production
    Video 5: The Curse of Machinery
    Video 6: Disbanding Troops and Bureaucrats
    Video 7: Who's Protected by Tariffs?
    Video 8: "Parity" Prices
    Video 9: How the Price System Works
    Video 10: Minimum Wage Laws
    Video 11: The Function of Profits
    Video 12: The Assault on Saving

Additional Introductory Reading in Economics

    The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 4; the audiobook is here

    The Concise Guide to Economics by Jim Cox

    Making Economic Sense by Murray N. Rothbard

    Pillars of Prosperity: Free Markets, Honest Money, Private Property by Ron Paul

    Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow by Ludwig von Mises

    Free Market Economics: A Reader by Bettina Bien Greaves

    The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy

    Free Market Economics: A Syllabus by Bettina Bien Greaves

    The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

    Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard J. Maybury (a great introduction to economics for homeschoolers; study guide included)

Introduction to Austrian Economic Analysis: A Ten-Lecture Course

This course with Professor Joseph Salerno of Pace University, courtesy of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, is available in both video and mp3 audio at the link above. (Suggested readings to accompany the lectures are listed here.) To learn more about the Austrian School of economics, read this essay and this essay.

Advanced Texts in Austrian Economics

Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles by Murray N. Rothbard
    The Scholars' Edition of this book, which we link to, also contains the book Power and Market, which had originally been intended as the concluding section of Man, Economy, and State but was released in 1970 as a separate book. The entire text is also available online here. A study guide is available for purchase and online here (.pdf).

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises
    This entire book is available online here. A study guide to this book is still being compiled; the chapters that have been finished so far are available online here.

Money, Banking, and Economic Cycles by Jesús Huerta de Soto
    A sweeping and historic contribution to the literature of the Austrian School, showing how monetary freedom avoids the disadvantages of fiat money, including inflation, business cycles, and financial bubbles.

Foreign Aid and Development Economics

    Equality, the Third World, and Economic Delusion by Peter Bauer

    From Subsistence to Exchange and Other Essays by Peter Bauer

    "The Marshall Plan: Myths and Realities" (.pdf) by Tyler Cowen

    The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics by William Easterly

    "The History of Foreign Aid Programs" (mp3) by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Miscellaneous Readings in Economics

    "Politically Contrived Gasoline Shortage" (.pdf) by Craig S. Marxsen

    "The Anatomy of Social Security and Medicare" (.pdf) by Edgar K. Browning

    Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950—1980 by Charles Murray

    The Conquest of Poverty by Henry Hazlitt

    The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (advanced) by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Sound Money

An Overview

    The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 6 (audiobook)

    Gold, Peace, and Prosperity by Ron Paul; also available in mp3 audio

    "Money, Banking, and the Federal Reserve" (documentary, via Google Video)

    What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray N. Rothbard

    The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Murray N. Rothbard; a new edition of What Has Government Done to Our Money containing this work can be purchased here. (The two are also available on mp3 audio here.)
    The Case for Gold by Ron Paul and Lewis Lehrman

    The Gold Standard: Perspectives in the Austrian School, ed. Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. (online in .pdf here)

    A History of Money and Banking in the United States from the Colonial Period to World War II by Murray N. Rothbard; online here (.pdf)

    The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve by G. Edward Griffin

    "The Myth of the 'Independent' Fed" by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

    "Did Greenspan Deserve Support for Another Term?" (.pdf) by Joseph T. Salerno (mp3 audio)

    "The Path to Sound Money" (mp3 audio) by George Reisman

    "The Economics of Inflation" (mp3 audio) by George Reisman

    The Case Against the Fed by Murray N. Rothbard (online here; free audiobook here)

The Business Cycle

What makes the economy experience periodic booms and busts? Contrary to what Karl Marx claimed, these are not an inevitable feature of a market economy. Economist F.A. Hayek won the Nobel Prize in economics for showing how central banking (the Federal Reserve System in the American case) and its manipulation of the interest rate initiates unsustainable booms that lead inevitably to a bust. This is known as the Austrian theory of the business (or trade) cycle, and it's the subject of this section.

    The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays (online here; free audiobook here). The ideal place to start on this subject. This short book consists of short essays on Austrian business cycle theory. No prior knowledge is necessary.

    "Business Cycle Primer" by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

    "Sound Money and the Business Cycle" by John P. Cochran

    "Who Predicted the Bubble? Who Predicted the Crash?" (.pdf) by Mark Thornton

    "Mises vs. Fisher on Money, Method, and Prediction: The Case of the Great Depression" (.pdf) by Mark Thornton

    "Predicting Booms and Busts" (mp3 audio) by Mark Thornton

    Banking and the Business Cycle (mp3 audio) by Joseph T. Salerno

    America's Great Depression, 5th ed. (online in here, and in .pdf here) by Murray N. Rothbard

What About Deflation?

Because the possibility of "deflation" is so often raised as an objection to a commodity standard, we include a separate section of articles and lectures refuting this specific claim. Much of the material in this section is for the advanced student.

Articles:

    "Deflation and Depression: Where's the Link?" by Joseph T. Salerno

    "Apoplithorismosphobia" (.pdf) by Mark Thornton. (Thornton coined the term to refer to the fear of deflation.) Thornton speaks on this topic in this mp3 file.

    "An Austrian Taxonomy of Deflation — With Applications to the U.S." (.pdf) by Joseph T. Salerno

    "Deflation and Japan Revisited" (.pdf) by Richard C.B. Johnsson

Audio (in mp3 audio):

    "On Deflation" by Joseph T. Salerno

    "The Economics of Deflation" by Jörg Guido Hülsmann

    "Deflation and Liberty" by Jörg Guido Hülsmann

    "The Gold Standard in Theory and in Myth" by Joseph T. Salerno
Monograph:

    Deflation and Liberty (.pdf), by Jörg Guido Hülsmann; this essay, available for purchase, is a lengthier version of the lecture of the same name linked above.

Foreign Policy

An Overview

Core:

    The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 2 (audiobook)

    A Foreign Policy of Freedom: 'Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship' by Ron Paul

    Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire by Chalmers Johnson

    Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror by Michael Scheuer

    The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War by Andrew J. Bacevich

The Old Right and War:

    Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle American Anti-Imperialism by Bill Kauffman

    Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement by Justin Raimondo

    The Betrayal of the American Right by Murray N. Rothbard; online here

    Prophets on the Right: Profiles of Conservative Critics of American Globalism by Ronald Radosh

Other Important Books:

    Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic by Chalmers Johnson

    Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer

    The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic by Chalmers Johnson

    Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism by Robert A. Pape

    American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy by Andrew J. Bacevich

    The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew J. Bacevich

    War Is a Racket by Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler; online here

    The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War and the Rise of the Messianic Nation by Richard Gamble

    The Costs of War: America's Pyrrhic Victories, ed. John V. Denson

    We Who Dared to Say No to War: American Antiwar Writing From 1812 to Now by Murray Polner and Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

    Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy by Murray N. Rothbard; online here

Articles:

    "Our Own Strength Against Us: The War on Terror as a Self-Inflicted Disaster" (.pdf) by Ian S. Lustick

    "What Do the Terrorists Want?" (.pdf) by James L. Payne

Audio:

    Scott Horton's Antiwar Radio has featured some of the most important intellectuals, journalists, and political figures of our day, and its archive is a treasure trove of knowledge. Scott suggests the following as some of his best and most informative interviews. Access his full archive, subscribe to his podcast, and listen live from 12:00pm—2:00pm Eastern.

    Michael Scheuer, 22-year CIA veteran, former head of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit, and author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror

    Robert Pape, author, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism

    Chalmers Johnson, author and professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego

    Philip Giraldi, former CIA officer and columnist, The American Conservative

    Ron Paul on Terrorism and more

    Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent for the Independent

    John Cusack, actor, on his film War, Inc.

    Jim Powell, author, Wilson's War

    Ron Paul on Iraq and Afghanistan

    Chris Hedges, author, War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

    Carah Ong, Iran Policy Analyst, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

    Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector

    Larry Velvel, dean, Massachusetts School of Law

    Gareth Porter, reporter, IPS News

The Economics of Foreign Policy

Articles:

    "The Trillion-Dollar Defense Budget Is Already Here" by Robert Higgs

    "The Neglected Costs of the Warfare State" (.pdf) by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

    "Military Spending / Gross Domestic Product = Nonsense for Budget Policymaking" (.pdf) by Robert Higgs

    "Military-Economic Fascism: How Business Corrupts Government, and Vice Versa" by Robert Higgs

    "Do We Need to go to War for Oil?" (.pdf) by David R. Henderson

Audio and Video:

    "The Myth of War Prosperity" by Robert Higgs

    "Taxation, Inflation, and War" by Joseph T. Salerno (video here)

    "War and Inflation: The Monetary Process and Implications" by Joseph T. Salerno

    "War and the Money Machine" by Joseph T. Salerno

Books:

    Depression, War, and Cold War by Robert Higgs

    Pentagon Capitalism by Seymour Melman

The Constitution

Documents

    The Declaration of Independence

    The Articles of Confederation

    The U.S. Constitution

    The Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers

    Friends of the Constitution: Writings of the "Other" Federalists, 1787—1788, eds. Colleen A. Sheehan and Gary L. McDowell

    The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution (volumes VIII—X, on Virginia, are especially interesting)

Basic Reading

    The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 3 (audiobook)

    Federalism: The Founders' Design by Raoul Berger

    The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution by Kevin R.C. Gutzman

    Who Killed the Constitution? The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. and Kevin R.C. Gutzman

    The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson by David N. Mayer

    No Treason by Lysander Spooner

    Hamilton's Curse: How Jefferson's Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution — And What It Means for America Today by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

    33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

    "The Constitution: Four Disputed Clauses" (mp3 audio) by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (the Woods audio archive contains several dozen lectures, some of which involve the Constitution)

Advanced Reading

    New Views of the Constitution of the United States (1823) by John Taylor (probably the best Jeffersonian overview of the Constitution; available in html and at Google Books)

    A Brief Enquiry into the True Nature and Character of Our Federal Government (1840) by Abel Upshur. A brilliant and unjustly neglected short book on the nature of the Union created by the Constitution. Available online and as Classic Reprint No. 120 from Vance Publications. Read the foreword.

    Government by Judiciary: The Transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment by Raoul Berger

    "The Original Meaning of the Commerce Clause" by Randy Barnett

    Virginia's American Revolution: From Dominion to Republic, 1776—1840 by Kevin R.C. Gutzman

    "Madison and the Compound Republic" by Kevin Gutzman (later published as "'Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave…': James Madison and the Compound Republic," Continuity 22 [Spring 1998]: 19—29)

Civil Liberties

An Overview

    The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 5 (audiobook)

    Freedom Under Siege by Ron Paul

    How Would a Patriot Act? by Glenn Greenwald

    Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terror by Geoffrey R. Stone

    "The Bill of Rights: Searches and Seizures" by Jacob Hornberger

    "The Bill of Rights: Due Process of Law" by Jacob Hornberger

    "The Enemy Combatant Attack on Freedom, Part 1" by Jacob Hornberger

    "The Enemy Combatant Attack on Freedom, Part 2" by Jacob Hornberger

    "Tyranny and the Military Commissions Act" by Jacob Hornberger

    "Bush's Wiretap Crimes and the FISA Farce" by James Bovard

    "The Bush Torture Memos" by James Bovard

    "Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America" (.pdf) by Radley Balko

    Second Amendment Resource Library

The War on Drugs

    Drug Crazy: How We Got Into this Mess and How We Can Get Out by Mike Gray

    Bad Trip: How the War on Drugs Is Destroying America by Joel Miller

    Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed by Judge James Gray

    Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure by Dan Baum

    Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence by Lynn Etta Zimmer and John P. Morgan

    Marijuana as Medicine? by Alison Mack and Janet Elizabeth Joy

    Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington's Futile War on Drugs in Latin America by Ted Galen Carpenter

    "How the U.S. Government Created the ‘Drug Problem' in the U.S.A." by Michael E. Kreca

    "How the Drug War in Afghanistan Undermines America's War on Terror" (.pdf) by Ted Galen Carpenter

    What the Drug War Did to Tulia, Texas (see also this audio resource)

    Bibliography of articles on drug policy and the drug war

This is adapted from Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty. Special thanks to Anthony Gregory for his assistance with resources on the drug war.

Thomas E. Woods, Jr. [view his website; send him mail] is senior fellow in American history at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He is co-editor (with Murray Polner) of We Who Dared to Say No to War: American Antiwar Writing from 1812 to Now and co-author, most recently, of Who Killed the Constitution? The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush. His other books include Sacred Then and Sacred Now: The Return of the Old Latin Mass, 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask. How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization (get a free chapter here), The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy (first-place winner in the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Awards), and the New York Times bestseller The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. His latest book is Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse.

Copyright © 2008 Thomas Woods, Jr.



 

[pnegyesi]

It's a very nice, but totally undoable idea. It's nice to toy with such ideas in the US of A, but there are other, not so idealistic countries around and if you'd go that way you'd soon find yourself in the gutter.

[Ultra]

It's a very nice, but totally undoable idea.

Assertions without foundations are my favorite kind.  

I think you have some reading to do.

[DeAutogids]

Ah, I see.
Ultra, I think you're convinced thaty your vision is the only correct one. In that sense, I think I'll leave it at that.

[Ray B.]

And so will I.
Maybe I will lay an eye on this Mr.Woods' writings in a few years, but, in the meantime, I'll keep myself busy with more usefuls tasks.

[Ultra]

In this thread I have recommended a book. There was no promotion of any positions of my own. DeAutogids, I think you're convinced that your vision is the only correct one. After all, rather than cite sources or discuss your ideas you just take one sentence shots at contents of a book you haven't read. 

[DeAutogids]

In this thread I have recommended a book. There was no promotion of any positions of my own. DeAutogids, I think you're convinced that your vision is the only correct one. After all, rather than cite sources or discuss your ideas you just take one sentence shots at contents of a book you haven't read. 

Thanks.
As said, will refrain from commenting any further...

[Ultra]

That said I believe I have found some folk who are afraid of a free society.

Amazon has the book for under 17 dollars and is shipping now.

[Otto Puzzell]

It's a very nice, but totally undoable idea.

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."

~ Attributed to Henry Ford

[pnegyesi]

Look folks. I don't need to read the book, Ultra's quoted introduction says it all. You are lucky, most of you has always lived in a free society for all of your life. The same can't be said of us. And your mindset is based around the concept that you are free, you can criticise anybody, anyone. If everyone should be able to think for himself/herself then we'd not need government, the world would be one big happy place.
Well, that's not how the majority of humankind operates. But let idealistic ideas prevail.

[Ultra]

Well, that's not how the majority of humankind operates. But let idealistic ideas prevail.

Tell that to Egypt and Tunisia.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi

 “You can resist an invading army; you cannot resist an idea whose time has come.”  Victor Hugo.

[DeAutogids]

Last time I checked, both countries still have a government... just saying...

[Ultra]

Last time I checked, both countries still have a government... just saying...

Considering you haven't read the book, where do you get the idea that the book encourages an absence of all forms of government?

[DeAutogids]

Last time I checked, both countries still have a government... just saying...

Considering you haven't read the book, where do you get the idea that the book encourages an absence of all forms of government?

Ha! You quoted something. But the part before that quote talked about abolishing governments.

If everyone should be able to think for himself/herself then we'd not need government, the world would be one big happy place.
Well, that's not how the majority of humankind operates. But let idealistic ideas prevail.

[Ultra]

Government is defined as the legal monopoly of force within a geographic boundary.  Tell the chaotic, ungovernable mobs in Egypt and Tunisia that the government said they should go home and then let me know if the force monopoly is still in effect.

[Ray B.]

That said I believe I have found some folk who are afraid of a free society.

Which is what you wanted to have the occasion to write in the first place.
Very elegant, Charlie, very elegant.

Maybe we should quote what you said of child work to the underage kids in Bangladesh who work to keep the market growing. The will be pleased to know that there is someone over here who cares for their right not to starve.

Propaganda? Everyone does his own. Don't try to make us believe that you don't have anything to sell, besides pizza.

Somewhere inside, you may be a kind hearted man, but I think that otherwise you're a fanatic. I've been warned before, but now I guess that I will definitely stick a flag on your posts, saying "Caution, slippery, oil on the track" and let you play with yourself alone.

[Ultra]

You need a sense of humor Ray.

[Otto Puzzell]

I think everybody has their own 'story' or internal script, and would like others to appreciate and/or even follow their path to a similar state of enlightenment. Unlike most of you accomplished and brainy guys, my story is not compelling, and when I do share it, I do so poorly.

I liked the discussion Charlie was trying to spark.

C'est la vie.

[MG]

I've been warned before

Sir Charles and I have been chasing each other around the internet for more than a decade now. And yeah, sometimes he can be a complete pain in the ass. On the other hand, so can I.   

You make a good point, Ray, which is that capitalism, left unfettered, can inflict tremendous hardship upon the workers who are the "engine" of commerce. For example, here in America, during the Industrial Revolution, the windows in mills were fixed closed because air currents could disturb the fabric on the looms. As a result, the workers toiled in a place with millions of tiny fibers floating in the air. Premature death from lung disease was common.

I have a neighbor who's husband was THRILLED to have a job in a mill during The Depression. His schedule was 6 am to 6 pm 7 days a week. How he ever found the time or energy to father 14 children is a great mystery to me. 

At the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in NYC, dozens of young women were killed in a fire. Management had chained the exits closed to keep them from stepping out on the fire escapes for a smoke or breath of fresh air.

The "soul" of capitalism espoused by Any Rand and her acolytes is a myth.

The North American Free Trade Agreement was nothing more than a chimera behind which industry could break the grip of unions and move their production to the maquilladores along the Rio Grande, where working conditions were barely better than they had been in the mills of America in the 1800's.

For more (MUCH more) on the impact of "globalization" on the people who actually produce the goods, please read Naomi Klein's exceptional book, No Label. It would be hard for anyone to read it and still be an advocate for pure capitalism.

Many people believe that "the state" has no business telling business how to do business. And maybe they are right. But clearly there must be SOME countervailing force somewhere in the process, else innocent people will be ground up and spit out by the wheels of commerce. Surely that can't be what it's all about, is it, Alfie?   

All in all, worthy topics for discussion and debate. And I hope you will not turn aside from this opportunity, Ray.

C'mon, we're all friends here. And friends sometimes have disagreements. But we all have to deal with similar challenges every day.  In the immortal words of Rodney King: Can't we all just get along?     

[Otto Puzzell]

The North American Free Trade Agreement was nothing more than a chimera behind which industry could break the grip of unions and move their production to the maquilladores along the Rio Grande, where working conditions were barely better than they had been in the mills of America in the 1800's.

Careful with the broad brush, Mr G - you've once again painted over the truth in an attempt to make a point stick.

The company I worked for at the time NAFTA was being debated, and finally enacted, manufactured specialized equipment for testing automotive emissions. We supported NAFTA because it made it easier for our neighbors to buy our equipment. We employed nobody outside of South East Michigan, before or after, and none of them were under 18.

As to this statement:

the "soul" of capitalism espoused by Any Rand and her acolytes is a myth.

... I say 'poppycock'. The guy who started this thread, along with other entrepreneurial folks whom I call friends, are proof that that that soul is no myth. It is at the small business level that Federal regs are often the most crippling, yet it is there where people work their hardest to carve out a better life for themselves.

Cary on.

[MG]

you've once again painted over the truth in an attempt to make a point stick

Is that a bad thing?   

In my own defense, I would suggest that while NAFTA may have benefited your company, it had far more to do with breaking unions and making it easier for American business to adopt the idea of "outsourcing" on a grand scale. Which is precisely what happened.

Whether or not that is a good thing may depend on one's perspective.   

As for the soul of capitalism, if there is one, I can only encourage you to read Naomi Klein's book. I titled it incorrectly above as "No Label" but it is in fact called "No Logo".

The difference between you and me, Opie, is that you see the world through the lens of your own personal experience at the micro-economic level. I, on the other hand, having no part in the daily struggle for the legal tender and the means of production, have the luxury of looking at things from the macro-economic level, and I am here to tell you that BP, GE, GM, Exxon, Monsanto and all the other mega corporations of the world don't car a flying fig about you, your family, the world you live in or the world your grandchildren will inherit. ALL they are concerned about is the current fiscal quarter, their stock value, and the ginormous bonuses their leaders feel they are entitled to.   

And I say unto you, sir: Vive la difference!   

[Ultra]

For you to use corporations to describe capatalism shows you don't understand the difference.