Mondays With Murray: Why Does Someone Become A Statist?
That's right, it's back! Time to get the liberty juices flowing here in 2013, and what better way than to bring back Mondays with Murray! For new readers, each week we'll look at a short clip of the man known as "Mr. Libertarian" - the economist, historian and philosopher, Murray Rothbard - preaching libertarian wisdom. It's a big week for Murray and I, as tomorrow begins a six week course at the Mises Academy, Rothbard: A Life Lived For Liberty, taught by David Gordon. If you're at all interested in how Murray Rothbard became "Mr. Libertarian" and went on to have so much influence in the libertarian movement, this course promises to be another great one. Gordon is not only a great scholar and teacher, but he was a personal friend of Rothbard. (If that weren't enough, rumor has it that EconomicPolicyJournal.com's Robert Wenzel and Chris Rossini are both enrolled in the class as well.)In this clip, Rothbard answers a question from what sounds like a Russian man saying he has been in the United States for four years and was shocked at the support for socialist ideas amongst the general population. He asks why this, getting a round of applause for asking, "are they plain stupid or..?". Murray goes on to explain Lysander Spooner's three types of people who support the State. These are the naives - people who directly benefit from the State aka the ruling class, the dupes - those who are well-intentioned and have simply been suckered into the system. We also have a third group - those who know the State is a scam but are too cowardly to do anything about it.Rothbard points out the case of John Kenneth Galbraith, a Keynesian economist who made a career off of denouncing the evils of affluence. With that career of course, as with most of the top Statist intellectuals, he made a vast fortune for himself. Murray draws another laugh when he says that he "just can't believe that this was only honest error, just can't believe it". This is a great highlight of how Murray always utilized humor to help drives his point. This is a lesson other libertarians should take to heart, as humor will often lower one's guard and open them up to your ideas where they not be if you are simply screaming from the rooftops like a madman. Of course, we certainly support screaming from rooftops as well.This reminds me of how former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, Robert Reich, was recently called out on Twitter for his horror at the market prices of airline tickets he discovered when trying to fly out of New York just before Hurricane Sandy. Of course, this is a man who regularly receives $40,000 per speech, as pointed out in Tweet form by Mark J. Perry in Tweet form:
Robert Reich Charges a Market-Based $40k Speaking Fee But Is Upset About Airlines' Market-Based Pricing? Gimme a break robertreich.org/post/345685533…— Mark J. Perry (@Mark_J_Perry) October 30, 2012
Libertarians should continue to call out the intellectuals, the naives who benefit from the State while denouncing the evils of achieving success. In reality, they are only horrified by legitimate success achieved in the market. Success through the State however, that is to be lauded and praised for all eternity! With the age of the internet and the ease of communications, we should all strive to just be the Spooner's third type of Statist, who knows better but is too cowardly to do anything about it.Stand up, expose the Statists, and help us advance the ideals of liberty! Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
