lewrockwell--2020-07-04--It’s the 4th of July! Why Is Democracy Destroying the World?

History definitively proves that , when practiced by governments , democracy guarantees discord , discontent , disharmony , upheaval , chaos , and political disaster , often leading to totalitarianism .
“ But , ” you may be thinking already , “ How can that be ?
Isn ’ t democracy good ?
Doesn ’ t it prevent those things ?
” So you may be surprised to discover that more than half — 58 % — of 4 million folks around the world surveyed in a Cambridge U. study are dissatisfied with democracy .
That ’ s the highest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ survey ’ s 25 year history .
Further , the level of dissatisfaction is particularly high in the U.S.A. and U.K .
The New Yorker calls the unprecedented number of world-wide upheavals , most in democracies , “ The Story of 2019.
” They ’ re continuing in 2020 .
Speaking for Myself : F ... Sanders , Sarah Huckabee Buy New $ 20.99 For starters , there are upheavals in The Cradle of Democracy , Greece — and Bolivia , Ecuador , Iraq , Algeria , Haiti , Hong Kong , Columbia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And more democracies on the brink .
South Africa , Italy , and “ authorities ” aren ’ t too sure about India , etc .
Even Germany .
And England , Scotland , Ireland , Whales and their people are divided over “ BREXIT.
” These shakey democracies include assumed-to-be extremely stable countries such as Chile , Spain ( Catalonia ) , Venezuela , Lebanon , even Israel .
Perhaps most surprising so far is France , with over a year — 60 weeks so far — of massive street demonstrations , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ Gilets Jaunes ” or “ Yellow Vests , ” ignited by an increase in petrol tax and now re-upped by the Orange Vests , ignited by an attempted government re-form of French “ Social Security.
” You can find a sporadically updated list with links here : UNCOMMON SENSE : Major Demonstrations and Riots .
In some ways , these uprisings are more focused continuations of the “ Occupy ” Movements that began in late 2011 and spread all around the world to at least 951 cities in 82 countries .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to quip to the bankers rather appropriately , “ My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.
“ And that was all before the COVID-19 fiasco and the George Floyd related Black Lives Matter ( BLM ) demonstrations all around the world .
Maybe democracy isn ’ t such a good idea after all ?
And do the bankers have something to do with it ?
If so , what ?
Awan Minutes To Midnig ... Webb , George Buy New $ 0.99 That ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On the other hand , we might elect a few folks to decide which flavor of ice cream we all get and how much we have to pay for it .
That would be “ representative democracy.
” Clearly such circumstances should be avoided if at all possible , especially because when the “ majority rules , ” there ’ s always a minority that loses .
The more votes taken , the more losers .
There ’ s a third form of democracy which avoids that problem .
It ’ s the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daily lives , and subconsciously ass-u-me when we hear the word .
That ’ s probably because it ’ s almost certainly built-in to our genome .
We ’ ll call that natural democracy .
In natural democracy , folks seek out others who agree with them and are willing , temporarily at least , to contribute time and/or money to their mutually agreed upon project ( s ) .
They don ’ t involve those who aren ’ t interested in their project ( s ) and certainly don ’ t expect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Where natural democracy exists — as practiced by the original North American inhabitants and other “ primitive ” folks and in most of our day-to-day interactions , including voluntary exchanges in markets free of unwanted third party taxers and pseudo “ regulators ” — the folks who want vanilla get and pay for their own vanilla .
Even the folks who want Bacon or Razzleberry can usually get what they want .
And the folks who aren ’ t hungry or don ’ t want ice cream don ’ t have to pay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote .
On the other hand , some of them might voluntarily contribute to folks they feel need ice cream .
Who would want to do things any other way ?
Because it ’ s so difficult , expensive , time-consuming and thus impractical to take universal votes on everything , direct democracy becomes unwieldly , even in relatively small groups .
As a result , despite certain psychological advantages , there are few groups of any size — and no countries — run by direct democracy .
When practiced in private groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — both direct democracy and representative democracy approximate natural democracy and so can be useful .
And because you aren ’ t forced to belong to such private , voluntary groups — the PTA , Orthodox church , Mosque , the local paint-ball club , etc .
— and those who do belong are free to easily leave them and/or stop paying dues , they stay mostly under control or else they disappear .
Democracy u2013 The Go ... Hans-Hermann Hoppe Best Price : $ 24.77 Buy New $ 37.61 However , once @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a group — and/or to stop paying dues — the membership loses that easy control and the organization eventually gets out of control .
Democracy or not , that “ gets out of control ” situation always applies to territorial state-based governments .
That ’ s because , if you live in the geographical area they claim , those organizations make your membership mandatory , claim jurisdiction over you , and assert the right to extort your dues as “ taxes.
” This insight may be what promped U.S. founder Thomas Jefferson to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must be watered periodically with the blood of tyrants and patriots alike.
” And so , lacking meaningful control , sooner or later territorial states begin to deteriorate towards discord , discontent , disharmony , upheaval , chaos , and political disaster , often leading to totalitarianism .
History — particularly 2019 and 2020 history as above and developing — shows this just happens a lot faster in democracies .
Why do you suppose ?
And yes , these days the banks — especially the Central Banks — are involved .
And yes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of government that can , temporarily at least , hold the bad territorial democracies at bey .
Our early American ancestors understood the dangers of democracy — and of majority rule in general — and weren ’ t shy in warning about them – – – U.S. “ founding father ” James Madison was more specific – – – The New Confessions of ... John Perkins Best Price : $ 8.00 Buy New $ 10.83 That ’ s what happens when folks stop minding their own business and start minding someone else ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ancestors were worried about majorities forcing their will on minorities just as we should be .
Remember that vanilla-ice-cream vote .
And it ’ s more than well worth remembering that the smallest minority and the one that really counts is the individual .
That ’ s you and me , bro .
While John Adams ’ mention of “ unlimited despots , ” implicates kings and dictators , it ’ s democracy that ’ s mucking up today ’ s world .
In fact , the problems with democracy — I even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ P.O.D . )
class in high-school — were well understood at least through the first third of the 20th Century as demonstrated by War Department Training Manual TM_2000-25 for example – – – And a few 21st Century folks have been trying to warn us as well – – – The Law Frederic Bastiat Best Price : $ 3.00 Buy New $ 3.79 And what is it about democracy that causes all the discord , discontent , disharmony , upheaval , chaos , and political disaster our ancestors warned against and we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ majority rules ” obviously causes trouble — sticking us all with vanilla ice cream and the bill for example — if it can lead to totalitariansim , there ’ s got to be more to the story .
Doesn ’ t there ?
Yes .
But first we need a little context – – – And so we come to that alternative form of government that can , temporarily at least , hold kings , dictators , and the bad territorial democracies at bey .
And protect us individuals from majorities .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. founders .
That ’ s what ’ s defined and created by The U.S. Constitution .
It ’ s what many of us pledged allegiance to in school like this – – – Notice we did not pledge allegiance to a democracy .
Given the nature of government-in-general – – – – – – coming up with a safe government of any kind is clearly a serious challenge .
Because of the economic interests that want to use them for their own ends and the psychopathic personalities governments attract — not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ membership — crafting a durable democracy-proof Republic is particularly difficult .
For starters , it requires an iron-clad set of rules specifically designed to confine , limit , bind , and control the minions elected and/or hired to operate and administer it .
Those rules must keep the minions from transforming the dangerous servant into a fearful master which would then serve those psychopathic personalities and economic interests that want to use it for their own ends but screw the rest of us .
And then , keeping the following in mind – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eternal vigilence through succeeding generations to keep the minions obeying those iron-clad rules .
It ’ s particularly important to keep the minions under control because , remember , territorial governments make it difficult to quit the group or withhold “ dues ” once they do get out of control .
And once they do , as another of our earlier American ancestors warned , Dumbing Us Down -25th ... John Taylor Gatto Best Price : $ 4.94 Buy New $ 7.69 From the Ninth and Tenth amendments to The U.S. Constitution , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of just how appropriately distrustful the framers were of the minions and how serious they were about keeping them under control – – – In other words , the minions can ’ t use the fact we didn ’ t list all your rights to deny you the ones we didn ’ t list – – – and the U.S. Government minions have only the powers we specifically listed in The Constitution and no others .
As you can tell , the minions now almost completely ignore both Amendments and have for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t need a government to protect us so much as we need something to protect us from government — and the folks who are attracted to it .
The U.S. Constitution was quite a good attempt at doing just that .
What ’ s enabled the U.S.A. to survive this long is that until the turn of the 20th Century — 1913 is a good marker as you ’ ll see — the minions elected and hired to administer the Republic for the most part followed The Constitution ’ s rules confining , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a little of that limited Republic still lingers on .
Unfortunately , it ’ s fading fast .
To get a down-and-dirty read on the rate of decline , if you had Googled “ our democracy ” on January 6 , 2020 , you would have found about 6,980,000 hits while “ our republic ” got only 1,650,000 , less than 24 % as many .
So while we ’ re not a full-blown democracy yet , according to that metric , we ’ re more than 75 % there .
Is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” by mistake or is it by design ?
So , can we add “ The United States of America ” to the Endangered Democracies list ?
Will it go full totalitarian ?
And that brings us back to democracy with the obvious question : “ Which idiots would want to transform a well-crafted Republic into a doomed democracy ?
” And why ?
And why would folks go along with it ?
The venerable Iron Law of Oligarchy is more blunt .
So it ’ s not the voters in a democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s the “ professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures.
” Those professional manipulators include especially those psychopathic personalities attracted to government and those economic interests that want to use it for their own ends .
As you may have noticed , eventually the successful manipulators evolve almost exclusively into those special interests which can afford to make huge campaign bribes to get the minions elected and to hire one or more professional lobbyists to influence them even further .
In fact , as six-term U.S .
Senator John McCain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professional lobbyists who write the laws passed by the minions and , according to 26-term ( 52 year ) U.S .
Congressman John Conyers , the minions don ’ t even read them anyway – – – “ We don ’ t read most of the bills…that we pass.
” Do you suppose they ’ re passing too many ?
Rep. Conyers seems to think so .
You will too if you keep reading .
But the pay-out for those who can afford to buy what has now obviously become bogus democracy is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the quip goes , “ We now have the best government money can buy.
” When getting into the U.S. Presidential race for the first time , Barack Obama perfectly explains how bogus democracy works- – – As Mr. Obama explains , the lobbyists and special interests “ write the checks and you get stuck with the bill.… They think they own this government.
” And once bogus democracy has over-written the Republic , they do .
It ’ s clear then ; it ’ s not “ our government ” — unless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bribes and hire at least one lobbyist .
So now the minions rarely even mention The Constitution and when they do , regularly demonstrate they have no idea that it was designed mainly to limit them , not empower them to muck around in everyone ’ s business .
Corruption has set in as it always does when dues are no longer voluntary .
Rather than the minions protecting us individuals and other minorities , we hear that standard bogus-democracy excuse for repression , “ It ’ s what the people want.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just don ’ t tell you which people want it .
Unsurprisingly , it ’ s almost always the people “ who can afford to make huge campaign bribes …and to hire one or more professional lobbyists.
” And the psychopaths .
And even in the rare instances the minions are paying attention and it really is what the majority wants , a minority still loses and there are often severe consequences as history will remind you shortly .
Now asserting The Constitution in court can get you a contempt of court charge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Unfortunately , all representative organizations are , over time , subject to this degradation .
It just happens faster once “ the majority rules ” is used as the ruse .
It ’ s this “ It ’ s what the people want ” excuse that puts eternal vigilance to sleep , the dangerous servant ’ s nose and first hump in the tent , and the violence and other malign behavior of modern governments at the disposal of psychopaths and special interests .
And against freedom , liberty — and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just creates the illusion that you have something to say about what ’ s being done to you by the “ professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage.
” And , in a bogus democracy , your vote “ just encourages the bastards.
” So there is indeed power in voting , just not for the bamboozled voter pulling the levers at the local precinct on election day .
As this process morphs the well-crafted Republic into “ our ” bogus representative democracy , two main processes begin to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disharmony , upheaval , chaos , political disaster — and totalitarianism .
First , although we ’ re now 75 % majority rules bogus democracy , it ’ s not the “ unbridled majorities ” that are causing the problems .
Instead , it ’ s the run-away minions which is much worse because they vote all the time .
And since this is a territorial democracy , every minion vote is winner-takes-all which means everyone in the geographical area is supposed to be bound by the result and is expected to pay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every vote , there ’ s that minority that loses .
The more votes , the more losers .
If the minions took a vote on ice cream , heaven forbid , and Vanilla won , “ our democracy ” would insist that all of us be limited to Vanilla , ultimately backed-up by prison cells and the police gun .
And undoubtedly , a so-called “ black market ” for Razzleberry and Bacon would evolve .
But consider the folks who preferred alcoholic beverages during the failed 14-year attempt at alcohol prohibition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — and the folks who want to smoke pot , even today in 2020 A.D. Diversity can be , well , troubling .
Why not force your personal biases on everyone ?
Especially when the minions claim it ’ s “ what the people want.
” Let ’ s do away with drunks says the WCTU .
And pot smokers act funny .
And so , with the bogus “ It ’ s what the people want ” excuse , the votes , laws , rules , regulations , orders and controls — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pile up over time .
So do the unhappy vote-losers and tax payers .
But as attempted alcohol and drug prohibition both conclusively prove — and The Constitution took into account by protecting minorities — that doesn ’ t work because we humans don ’ t homogenize well .
Thank goodness !
The on-going attempt to homogenize us makes more and more of us repressed , depressed , unhappy .
And turns us into enemies and sometimes violent .
It ’ s the Molyneaux “ gun-in-the-room ” Effect in full bloom .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dissatisfied with democracy .
Consider all the upheaval , chaos , mayhem murder and world-record incarceration caused by U.S. governments vainly trying to prevent folks from drinking booze and smoking pot .
Not all democratic votes have such dramatic effects , but you can be pretty sure there ’ s another group of disaffected losers with every ballot .
Let ’ s put some numbers into the equation .
In the U.S.A. — in “ our democracy ” — approximately 40,000 new laws — to say nothing of rules , regulations , orders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year .
The Code of Federal Regulations alone includes over one-million ( 1,000,000 ) restrictions .
Equally as disruptive , this proliferation of laws — and the rules , regulations orders and controls that go with them — dilute and discredit the few laws that make sense .
As the quip goes , “ Ten commandments were good enough for God , what the Hell are WE doing ?
” In the vain attempt to enforce all these bogus democratic rules-mentality repressive obsessions , you obviously need more and more enforcement personnel .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the helpful folks select themselves out , the character of those remaining personnel morphs from previously helpful “ Peace Officers ” into intimidating and sometimes murderous and accurately named LEOs ( Law Enforcement Officers ) instead .
They begin to assault and kill citizens rather than keeping the peace .
And BTW , Police [ now the LEOs ] Have No Duty to Protect You , Federal Court Affirms Yet Again .
Folks begin to talk about living in a police state and while there ’ s still lip-service to freedom , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be free , and the young never know .
Because of the case-load caused by all the laws , trial by jury — designed to protect minorities — becomes unworkable and so the establishment replaces it with plea blackmail — they call it plea bargain — and only about 2 % of cases that aren ’ t dismissed ever see a jury .
And even then , the “ justice ” establishment uses voir dire to stack all it ’ s juries and so nearly snuffs-out jury nullification , one of the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Using plea blackmail , overzealous interrogations often convince people who didn ’ t commit the crime to confess anyway .
So , while innocent folks go to prison and may even be executed — and the real perp runs free — it makes the law-and-order industry stats look good .
There are so many laws , it ’ s plausibly estimated that the average American , mostly unknowingly , commits three felonies a day .
With that statistic in mind , it should be no surprise that the U.S.A. holds by far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the “ freest country in the world , ” about 1 in 31 Americans is in prison , on probation or on parole , two out-of-three for victimless “ crimes.
” We ’ re so far ahead in the race to incarcerate , no other country is even visible in the rear-view mirror .
The other side of that coin is that , since we ’ re all guilty of some fake “ felony ” or other — and the NSA likely has the evidence recorded from your device — we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the establishment at will .
While this phase of “ our democracy ” is just beginning to bite , you regularly see the ground truth in cop shows when a LEO threatens someone with arrest on some technicality if they don ’ t kow-tow .
Look what they ’ re doing ( 2019 A.D. ) , even to rich-man Trump , his family , and particularly his associates .
So the first key to our disaffection with democracy is all the laws , rules , regulations , orders and controls etc .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ democracy and the chaos they cause .
The deteriorating deportment of the minions and those they hire to enforce all those legislative emissions tip folks off they ’ re in a rapidly deteriorating police state and well on the way to discord , discontent , disharmony , upheaval , chaos , and political disaster .
And this isn ’ t unique to the U.S.A. , just more pronounced — because we ’ ve been around longer .
But there ’ s that second key leading to political disaster .
It involves your “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the economic parasites that feed on ’ em – – – While by no means the only economic interest that manipulates government for fun and profit , Central Bankers are the most egregious — and they ’ re also central to why democracy is destroying the world .
The Central Bank scheme is simple : Just get governments to create you as a monopoly and then borrow money from you , exclusively at first .
Such loans are highly desirable because governments borrow huge amounts and they ’ re super-safe because , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , governments extort their “ dues ” money from “ their ” citizens as “ taxes ” with threats , intimidation , and if necessary , actual use of the taxman ’ s gun .
The biggest and most successful running example is the IRS/Federal-Reserve swindle in the U.S..
It was pioneered by early U.S. banksters and perfected in Nicaragua and other central American countries around the turn of the 20th Century , then gradually up-scaled and “ improved ” here in the U.S. beginning in 1913 .
You can find a very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here : SILENT PARTNERS .
The result is a memetic machine that operates as a reverse Robin Hood with the Central Banks as the nexus .
It takes from everyone , especially poorer folks , and gives to the professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage .
“ Economic Hitman ” John Perkins explains the updated scam and how it deals with foreign minions who are reluctant to indebt their citizens to the international moneyed interests and their political procedure manipulators here .
In the context of destruction of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Income Tax in tandem with the Federal Reserve Act in 1913 , Washington D.C. lived perfectly well on import tariffs and excise taxes alone .
So at first , the minions didn ’ t try to directly rip us flesh-and-blood residents off with the so-called personal income tax .
That was outlawed in the body of The Constitution .
It still is .
Like this – – – The income tax , when applied to flesh-and-blood residents , is a direct tax because as a flesh-and-blood person , you can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So , the key is , is it “ laid …in Proportion to the Census ?
” If not , it ’ s outlawed by The Constitution as above , and can not and does not apply to flesh-and-blood Americans .
The 16th Amendment ?
Its “ income tax ” is an excise tax and applies mainly to corporations , ultimately the price their owners pay for the government ’ s legal system limiting their liability .
When you sign your 1040 form , you volunteer to be taxed as if you are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IRS/Federal-Reserve swindle , the minions were limited because they didn ’ t have a Central Bank eager to lend them money — or a big chunk of their citizens ’ future income-tax “ dues ” and future labor as collateral for those loans .
Keep in mind the banksters don ’ t want to be paid back , they just want to keep collecting that super-safe interest .
The simple way to expose this swindle is to ask , “ Why do governments keep borrowing instead of paying cash ?
” By styling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” the banksters made sure there was no escaping the payments — not even by death or personal bankruptcy — because the “ National Debt ” is automatically passed on to the kids , grand kids , and the yet unborn through taxes .
As the quip goes , “ We used to pay-off the mortgage and leave our kids the farm , now we mortgage the farm and leave our kids the payments.
” That ’ s a major clue to why the banksters are the second key to democracy destroying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ final disaster lurches into view .
See , if the minions want to get re-elected , there ’ s a limit to the amount of “ dues ” they can extort from their bamboozled citizens and voters , even when about a third of the extortions are hidden .
So they borrow instead .
Because the kids , grand kids , and yet unborn — who will get the bill — can ’ t vote .
But we ’ re the grand kids and those bills are now coming due .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the National Debt is about $ 26 trillion and growing rapidly .
If you trust government figures , you can find the “ Debt to The Penny ” HERE But that ’ s not the only debt the minions have passed on to the kids , grand kids and yet unborn .
Remember those programs the minions passed to get re-elected , even sometimes ones the “ unbridled majorities ” may have wanted ?
Ones that may have been written by lobbyists and not read by the minions ?
While there are a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to look at two to see the magnitude of the problem here in the U.S.A .
According to Forbes in 2017 , the combined bill for Medicare and , via the Social “ Security ” Ponzi scheme , promised by the U.S. Government to old folks — who were taxed in advance by F.I.C.A .
to pay for it — includes over $ 200-trillion in “ unfunded liabilities.
” That means the minions have no serious idea where that money will come from .
Somehow , they ’ ll have to try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kids , and the yet unborn .
Or default on the promise .
If you have your heart medicine and tranquilizers handy — and your firearms safely out of reach — you can find a dynamic and good-enough-for-government-work balance sheet of the situation HERE .
The bottom line is , that to get re-elected , the politicians pass the compounding costs of government on to the kids , grand kids and yet unborn .
The situation is similar in nearly all democracies .
The difference is , when the minions in other democracies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they go to external sources , usually the World Bank ’ s political lending arm , the IMF .
Both are controlled by the U.S .
But like all bankers , the IMF wants to be sure it will get those regular interest payments and they clearly see the problems that caused the politicians to ask them for loans in the first place .
So as part of the conditions for its loans , the IMF requires a decrease in government spending — called “ austerity.
” Austerity , rather than cutting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instead requires cutting back the “ free ” government services citizens are being taxed to pay for and have become addicted to .
But now folks can ’ t afford these on their own because of their tax burden — and the costs have mushroomed because there are no market forces controlling government programs .
Usually the IMF requires the wimpy minions to also increase taxes on their already squeezed “ citizens ” — or as some call them more accurately , “ tax slaves ” — as well .
And the bulk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pay-off previous loans from the IMF and the other wise-guy financial “ vultures ” circling the carcass .
Only a few realize they ’ ve been voted into tax-slavery by the minions , and , what with all the rules , regulations , orders and controls — and their devices monitored 24/7 and CCTV cameras everywhere — into what is beginning to resemble an open-air gulag .
None the less , one way or another , nearly everyone feels it in their personal lives .
So , although few see the big picture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of disillusioned and often desperate citizens — well over half discontented with democracy , remember — and , as Peter Fisher put it , an accident just waiting to happen .
A tiny additional crystal or even a speck of dust falling into such a super-saturated solution will cause it to crystalize into demonstrations , often violent street-riots , revolts , revolutions , etc .
just as documented at the top of this article .
Often it ’ s what insiders like former World-Bank Chief-Economist Joseph Stiglitz expect and accurately call “ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or speck can be almost anything — an additional tax on petrol in France , slightly increased subway fares in Chile , perceived government corruption in Lebanon — according to one remarkably accurate model , there ’ s one thing that most dependably predicts these outcomes : An increase in the price of basic necessities , particularly food .
So it isn ’ t “ income inequality ” as hopeful socialists like to imagine — few begrudge Bill Gates his billions , even though they did come from Microsoft Windows — it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so we come to discord , discontent , disharmony , upheaval , chaos , and political disaster , often leading to totalitarianism .
And , with the minions stacking laws and debt on future generations to get re-elected , not only Why Democracy Is Destroying the World but how .
And , no surprise , the idiots who want to transform a well-crafted Republic into a doomed democracy are those psychopathic personalities attracted to government and those economic interests that want to use it for their own ends .
Until it self-destructs .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t idiots all at once , they were sort of incremental idiots like this remember – – – The control , power and money the psychopaths and economic interests get by manipulating a representative democracy is their purloined prize and why they do it , at least until their mechanism self-destructs .
Few of them are aware of the looming disaster until it ’ s too late because it evolves as a usually unnoticed long-cycle memetic machine like this – – – Why would “ we ” go along with it ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ what was happening , “ we ” wouldn ’ t .
Unfortunately our more recent ancestors made the mistake of dropping that eternal vigilence and trusting the minions .
And of taking them seriously , although we know that they have to be good liars to get elected .
And they tend to be psychopaths .
Unfortunately , most of us still don ’ t know that .
And , in addition to mistaking state-based territorial representative democracy for natural democracy — along with the incessant drone of “ our democracy ” soundbytes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ usually bamboozles folks is the completely unwarranted and usually unstated assumption that it ’ s your values which the democracy will attempt to foist on everyone else in your territorial area .
And so while voting should be like this – – – Instead , in a bogus democracy , you vote once every four years and then the lobbyists , psychopaths , and special interests take over .
In a bogus democracy then , as T.J. Lowi explains so well , voting has become a trick to con large numbers of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ designed to rob them , originally created by a gaggle of mostly long-dead banking “ elites ” and others “ who knew how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage.
” As a result , any resemblance between That Thing That Lives in Washington D.C. and what ’ s specified in The U.S. Constitution is now purely coincidental .
As explained by 43rd U.S. President G.W .
Bush , “ … Stop throwing the Constitution in my face .
It ’ s just a goddamned piece of paper !
“ Once the Constitutional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overcome by claims that “ the majority rules ” and “ it ’ s what the people want , ” what ’ s left to prevent the dangerous servant from becoming the fearful master ?
What ’ s left to stop the minions and idiots from converting the stable Republic into just another doomed democracy ?
What ’ s left to prevent coercive winner-takes-all bogus-democracy-enabled totalitarianism ?
Despite all the hype and circumstance to the contrary , the majority of folks in the world are unhappy with their democracies , even if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Of the three forms of democracy , Natural democracy is the only one that doesn ’ t coerce “ dues ” and participation .
It ’ s the kind we instincively seek and ass-u-me .
The other two — direct democracy and representative democracy — require coercion to exact “ dues ” and force compliance .
Even relatively small democracies always become bogus because , as enshrined in The Iron Law of Oligarchy and elsewhere , “ making decisions by majority rule gives power not to the people , but to professionals who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their advantage.
” Our early American ancestors warned against the dangers of these inherently coercive democracies , pointing out that they lead to “ elective despotism ” ( Thomas Jefferson ) “ tyrannical unbridled majorities ” ( John Adams ) and “ have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention ; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property ; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.
” ( James Madison ) They also understood the dangers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put it like this : The U.S. Constitution , as originally written and intended , was a damn good barrier , minimizing the dangers of government , and protecting us individuals and our differences against not only democracy , but also against tin-pot dictators and so-called “ royalty.
” However , as Jefferson forewarned – – – “ Experience hath shewn , that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have , in time , and by slow operations , perverted it into tyranny.
” – – – and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a way of life for a group of men in a society , over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.
” –Frederic Bastiat This happened here in the U.S. because , despite those warnings , the minions , elected and hired to administer the U.S. Constitution , largely financed by “ special intetests , ” none-the-less followed that unfortunate path .
Using winner-takes-all democracy as a ruse , they gradually bamboozled us unwary victims into foresaking the stable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ democracy down the path to tyranny and perdition .
This gradual pernicious degradation happens largely because , in the stampede to get re-elected , the minions pass laws that accumulate over time , making things more and more repressive to more and more individuals .
And then , to pay for especially the pork-barrel “ laws ” and programs , the elected prevaricators run-up bills that accumulate as the so-called “ national debt ” — and other financial obligations — that eventually swamp the kids , grand kids and yet unborn in impossible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ precipitate the inevitable upheavals and sometimes revolution , the modern rule-of-thumb that predicts it is when the cost of necessities , particularly food , raises the specter of starvation and destitution .
None the less , bamboozled folks from Amy Goodman ( Democracy Now ) to mis-named “ Republicans ” praise “ our democracy ” and try to foist similar on folks all around the world .
Now , much to your surprise I ’ d bet , you know why democracy is destroying the world .
And how .
So , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republic into a doomed democracy by mistake or is it being done by design ?
Or is it something else even more troubling ?
The most important if uncomfortable question is , as usual , “ What are you going to do about it ?
” Here for updates , additions , comments , and corrections .
AND , “ Like , ” “ Tweet , ” and otherwise , pass this along !
The Best of L. Reichard White

History definitively proves that, when practiced by governments, democracy guarantees discord, discontent, disharmony, upheaval, chaos, and political disaster, often leading to totalitarianism.
“But,” you may be thinking already, “How can that be? Isn’t democracy good? Doesn’t it prevent those things?”
So you may be surprised to discover that more than half — 58% — of 4 million folks around the world surveyed in a Cambridge U. study are dissatisfied with democracy. That’s the highest level of discontent ever recorded in the survey’s 25 year history. Further, the level of dissatisfaction is particularly high in the U.S.A. and U.K.
The New Yorker calls the unprecedented number of world-wide upheavals, most in democracies, “The Story of 2019.” They’re continuing in 2020.
Speaking for Myself: F... Sanders, Sarah Huckabee Buy New $20.99 (as of 05:07 UTC - Details) For starters, there are upheavals in The Cradle of Democracy, Greece — and Bolivia, Ecuador, Iraq, Algeria, Haiti, Hong Kong, Columbia, Sudan, Brazil, Argentina. And more democracies on the brink. South Africa, Italy, and “authorities” aren’t too sure about India, etc.
Even Germany. And England, Scotland, Ireland, Whales and their people are divided over “BREXIT.”
These shakey democracies include assumed-to-be extremely stable countries such as Chile, Spain (Catalonia), Venezuela, Lebanon, even Israel.
Perhaps most surprising so far is France, with over a year — 60 weeks so far — of massive street demonstrations, beginning on Nov. 17, 2018 with the “Gilets Jaunes” or “Yellow Vests,” ignited by an increase in petrol tax and now re-upped by the Orange Vests, ignited by an attempted government re-form of French “Social Security.”
You can find a sporadically updated list with links here: UNCOMMON SENSE: Major Demonstrations and Riots .
In some ways, these uprisings are more focused continuations of the “Occupy” Movements that began in late 2011 and spread all around the world to at least 951 cities in 82 countries.
The”Occupy Wall Street” branch prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to quip to the bankers rather appropriately, “My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks.“
And there’s this:
And that was all before the COVID-19 fiasco and the George Floyd related Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrations all around the world.
Maybe democracy isn’t such a good idea after all? And do the bankers have something to do with it? If so, what?
Let’s take a look – – –
Imagine “we” — that is all approximately 320 million Americans — went to Baskin & Robbins (or Ben and Jerry’s) but collectively we — even the folks who didn’t vote — or even eat — all had to buy and pay for the winning flavor of ice cream — vanilla perhaps. Even when less than half voted for it. Even when less than half voted at all. –L. Reichard White, What You Mean ‘We,’ Paleface?
Awan Minutes To Midnig... Webb, George Buy New $0.99 (as of 05:08 UTC - Details) That’s an example of direct democracy. On the other hand, we might elect a few folks to decide which flavor of ice cream we all get and how much we have to pay for it. That would be “representative democracy.”
Clearly such circumstances should be avoided if at all possible, especially because when the “majority rules,” there’s always a minority that loses. The more votes taken, the more losers.
There’s a third form of democracy which avoids that problem. It’s the one we want, use in our daily lives, and subconsciously ass-u-me when we hear the word. That’s probably because it’s almost certainly built-in to our genome. We’ll call that natural democracy.
In natural democracy, folks seek out others who agree with them and are willing, temporarily at least, to contribute time and/or money to their mutually agreed upon project(s). They don’t involve those who aren’t interested in their project(s) and certainly don’t expect the non-interested to pay for them.
Where natural democracy exists — as practiced by the original North American inhabitants and other “primitive” folks and in most of our day-to-day interactions, including voluntary exchanges in markets free of unwanted third party taxers and pseudo “regulators” — the folks who want vanilla get and pay for their own vanilla. Even the folks who want Bacon or Razzleberry can usually get what they want.
And the folks who aren’t hungry or don’t want ice cream don’t have to pay or even get off the recliner to vote.
On the other hand, some of them might voluntarily contribute to folks they feel need ice cream.
Who would want to do things any other way?
Because it’s so difficult, expensive, time-consuming and thus impractical to take universal votes on everything, direct democracy becomes unwieldly, even in relatively small groups.
As a result, despite certain psychological advantages, there are few groups of any size — and no countries — run by direct democracy.
When practiced in private groups, however — where participation is voluntary — both direct democracy and representative democracy approximate natural democracy and so can be useful.
And because you aren’t forced to belong to such private, voluntary groups — the PTA, Orthodox church, Mosque, the local paint-ball club, etc. — and those who do belong are free to easily leave them and/or stop paying dues, they stay mostly under control or else they disappear. Democracy u2013 The Go... Hans-Hermann Hoppe Best Price: $24.77 Buy New $37.61 (as of 09:25 UTC - Details)
However, once you lose that ability to easily leave a group — and/or to stop paying dues — the membership loses that easy control and the organization eventually gets out of control.
Democracy or not, that “gets out of control” situation always applies to territorial state-based governments. That’s because, if you live in the geographical area they claim, those organizations make your membership mandatory, claim jurisdiction over you, and assert the right to extort your dues as “taxes.” This insight may be what promped U.S. founder Thomas Jefferson to pen, “The tree of liberty must be watered periodically with the blood of tyrants and patriots alike.”
And so, lacking meaningful control, sooner or later territorial states begin to deteriorate towards discord, discontent, disharmony, upheaval, chaos, and political disaster, often leading to totalitarianism.
History — particularly 2019 and 2020 history as above and developing — shows this just happens a lot faster in democracies. Why do you suppose?
And yes, these days the banks — especially the Central Banks — are involved.
And yes, there’s an alternative form of government that can, temporarily at least, hold the bad territorial democracies at bey.
Our early American ancestors understood the dangers of democracy — and of majority rule in general — and weren’t shy in warning about them – – –
“Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots.” –U.S. “Founding Father” John Adams “An elective despotism was not the government we fought for” –Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XIII, 1782. ME 2:163
U.S. “founding father” James Madison was more specific – – –
“Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” –James Madison, Federalist Paper 10:
The New Confessions of... John Perkins Best Price: $8.00 Buy New $10.83 (as of 07:05 UTC - Details) That’s what happens when folks stop minding their own business and start minding someone else’s.
It’s clear these ancestors were worried about majorities forcing their will on minorities just as we should be. Remember that vanilla-ice-cream vote.
And it’s more than well worth remembering that the smallest minority and the one that really counts is the individual. That’s you and me, bro.
While John Adams’ mention of “unlimited despots,” implicates kings and dictators, it’s democracy that’s mucking up today’s world.
In fact, the problems with democracy — I even had a watered-down Problems Of Democracy (P.O.D.) class in high-school — were well understood at least through the first third of the 20th Century as demonstrated by War Department Training Manual TM_2000-25 for example – – –
Democracy, n. “A government of the masses. …Results in mobocracy. Attitude toward property is communistic – negating property rights. …Results in demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy.” –issued November 30, 1928, withdrawn and destroyed Spring 1933
And a few 21st Century folks have been trying to warn us as well – – –
The Law Frederic Bastiat Best Price: $3.00 Buy New $3.79 (as of 05:35 UTC - Details) And what is it about democracy that causes all the discord, discontent, disharmony, upheaval, chaos, and political disaster our ancestors warned against and we’re seeing today?
While “the majority rules” obviously causes trouble — sticking us all with vanilla ice cream and the bill for example — if it can lead to totalitariansim, there’s got to be more to the story. Doesn’t there?
Yes. But first we need a little context – – –
A More Durable Form of Government
And so we come to that alternative form of government that can, temporarily at least, hold kings, dictators, and the bad territorial democracies at bey. And protect us individuals from majorities.
For example, the well-designed Republic crafted by the U.S. founders. That’s what’s defined and created by The U.S. Constitution. It’s what many of us pledged allegiance to in school like this – – –
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.“
Notice we did not pledge allegiance to a democracy.
Given the nature of government-in-general – – –
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence; it is force, and like fire, makes a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” –George Washington “The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form. The individual has a soul, but as the State is a soulless machine, it can never be weaned from violence to which it owes its very existence.” –Mohandas K. Gandhi
– – – coming up with a safe government of any kind is clearly a serious challenge.
Because of the economic interests that want to use them for their own ends and the psychopathic personalities governments attract — not to mention mandatory “dues” and membership — crafting a durable democracy-proof Republic is particularly difficult.
For starters, it requires an iron-clad set of rules specifically designed to confine, limit, bind, and control the minions elected and/or hired to operate and administer it.
Those rules must keep the minions from transforming the dangerous servant into a fearful master which would then serve those psychopathic personalities and economic interests that want to use it for their own ends but screw the rest of us.
And then, keeping the following in mind – – –
“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms [of government] those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny;” –Thomas Jefferson, 1778
– – – it requires eternal vigilence through succeeding generations to keep the minions obeying those iron-clad rules.
It’s particularly important to keep the minions under control because, remember, territorial governments make it difficult to quit the group or withhold “dues” once they do get out of control.
And once they do, as another of our earlier American ancestors warned,
“No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” –Surrogate Judge Gideon J. Tucker and/or Mark Twain
Dumbing Us Down -25th ... John Taylor Gatto Best Price: $4.94 Buy New $7.69 (as of 09:20 UTC - Details) From the Ninth and Tenth amendments to The U.S. Constitution, you can get a pretty good idea of just how appropriately distrustful the framers were of the minions and how serious they were about keeping them under control – – –
Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
In other words, the minions can’t use the fact we didn’t list all your rights to deny you the ones we didn’t list – – – and the U.S. Government minions have only the powers we specifically listed in The Constitution and no others.
As you can tell, the minions now almost completely ignore both Amendments and have for a long time.
So we don’t need a government to protect us so much as we need something to protect us from government — and the folks who are attracted to it.
The U.S. Constitution was quite a good attempt at doing just that.
What’s enabled the U.S.A. to survive this long is that until the turn of the 20th Century — 1913 is a good marker as you’ll see — the minions elected and hired to administer the Republic for the most part followed The Constitution’s rules confining, limiting and binding them.
Fortunately, a little of that limited Republic still lingers on.
Unfortunately, it’s fading fast. To get a down-and-dirty read on the rate of decline, if you had Googled “our democracy” on January 6, 2020, you would have found about 6,980,000 hits while “our republic” got only 1,650,000, less than 24% as many.
So while we’re not a full-blown democracy yet, according to that metric, we’re more than 75% there.
Is the Republic being converted to “our democracy” by mistake or is it by design?
So, can we add “The United States of America” to the Endangered Democracies list? Will it go full totalitarian?
And that brings us back to democracy with the obvious question: “Which idiots would want to transform a well-crafted Republic into a doomed democracy?” And why?
And why would folks go along with it?
Here’s the first clue – – –
…the model has discovered a fundamental flaw in democratic society. It shows that in any society of even moderate complexity, making decisions by majority rule gives power not to the people, but to professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage. –P.D. Straffin, “Handbook of Game Theory with Economic Implications” (1994)
The venerable Iron Law of Oligarchy is more blunt.
So it’s not the voters in a democratic society who control things. Instead, it’s the “professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures.”
Those professional manipulators include especially those psychopathic personalities attracted to government and those economic interests that want to use it for their own ends.
As you may have noticed, eventually the successful manipulators evolve almost exclusively into those special interests which can afford to make huge campaign bribes to get the minions elected and to hire one or more professional lobbyists to influence them even further.
In fact, as six-term U.S. Senator John McCain explains, it’s often those professional lobbyists who write the laws passed by the minions and, according to 26-term (52 year) U.S. Congressman John Conyers, the minions don’t even read them anyway – – –
“We don’t read most of the bills…that we pass.”
Do you suppose they’re passing too many? Rep. Conyers seems to think so. You will too if you keep reading.
But the pay-out for those who can afford to buy what has now obviously become bogus democracy is huge.
As Johnny Chung explained it,
“I see the White House is like a subway — you have to put in coins to open the gates.” –businessman Johnny Chung testifying to Congress in the 1997 Clinton fundraising scandal
The result is, as the quip goes, “We now have the best government money can buy.”
When getting into the U.S. Presidential race for the first time, Barack Obama perfectly explains how bogus democracy works- – –
As Mr. Obama explains, the lobbyists and special interests “write the checks and you get stuck with the bill.… They think they own this government.”
And once bogus democracy has over-written the Republic, they do.
It’s clear then; it’s not “our government” — unless we can afford to make huge campaign bribes and hire at least one lobbyist.
So now the minions rarely even mention The Constitution and when they do, regularly demonstrate they have no idea that it was designed mainly to limit them, not empower them to muck around in everyone’s business.
Corruption has set in as it always does when dues are no longer voluntary. Rather than the minions protecting us individuals and other minorities, we hear that standard bogus-democracy excuse for repression, “It’s what the people want.”
And it is of course. They just don’t tell you which people want it. Unsurprisingly, it’s almost always the people “who can afford to make huge campaign bribes …and to hire one or more professional lobbyists.” And the psychopaths.
And even in the rare instances the minions are paying attention and it really is what the majority wants, a minority still loses and there are often severe consequences as history will remind you shortly.
Now asserting The Constitution in court can get you a contempt of court charge and so the aberration is almost complete.
Unfortunately, all representative organizations are, over time, subject to this degradation. It just happens faster once “the majority rules” is used as the ruse.
It’s this “It’s what the people want” excuse that puts eternal vigilance to sleep, the dangerous servant’s nose and first hump in the tent, and the violence and other malign behavior of modern governments at the disposal of psychopaths and special interests. And against freedom, liberty — and we individuals.
Voting in a bogus democracy just creates the illusion that you have something to say about what’s being done to you by the “professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage.” And, in a bogus democracy, your vote “just encourages the bastards.”
So there is indeed power in voting, just not for the bamboozled voter pulling the levers at the local precinct on election day.
As this process morphs the well-crafted Republic into “our” bogus representative democracy, two main processes begin to propel it toward discord, discontent, disharmony, upheaval, chaos, political disaster — and totalitarianism.
First, although we’re now 75% majority rules bogus democracy, it’s not the “unbridled majorities” that are causing the problems. Instead, it’s the run-away minions which is much worse because they vote all the time.
And since this is a territorial democracy, every minion vote is winner-takes-all which means everyone in the geographical area is supposed to be bound by the result and is expected to pay the bills for it.
And with every vote, there’s that minority that loses. The more votes, the more losers.
If the minions took a vote on ice cream, heaven forbid, and Vanilla won, “our democracy” would insist that all of us be limited to Vanilla, ultimately backed-up by prison cells and the police gun.
And undoubtedly, a so-called “black market” for Razzleberry and Bacon would evolve.
I know, ridiculous, isn’t it?
But consider the folks who preferred alcoholic beverages during the failed 14-year attempt at alcohol prohibition in the 1920’s territorial U.S. — and the folks who want to smoke pot, even today in 2020 A.D.
Diversity can be, well, troubling. Why not force your personal biases on everyone? Especially when the minions claim it’s “what the people want.”
Let’s do away with drunks says the WCTU . And pot smokers act funny.
And so, with the bogus “It’s what the people want” excuse, the votes, laws, rules, regulations, orders and controls — and taxes to pay for them — pile up over time. So do the unhappy vote-losers and tax payers.
But as attempted alcohol and drug prohibition both conclusively prove — and The Constitution took into account by protecting minorities — that doesn’t work because we humans don’t homogenize well. Thank goodness!
The on-going attempt to homogenize us makes more and more of us repressed, depressed, unhappy. And turns us into enemies and sometimes violent. It’s the Molyneaux “gun-in-the-room” Effect in full bloom.
And so we end up with that majority dissatisfied with democracy.
Consider all the upheaval, chaos, mayhem murder and world-record incarceration caused by U.S. governments vainly trying to prevent folks from drinking booze and smoking pot.
Not all democratic votes have such dramatic effects, but you can be pretty sure there’s another group of disaffected losers with every ballot.
Let’s put some numbers into the equation.
In the U.S.A. — in “our democracy” — approximately 40,000 new laws — to say nothing of rules, regulations, orders and controls — go into effect every year.
The Code of Federal Regulations alone includes over one-million (1,000,000) restrictions.
Equally as disruptive, this proliferation of laws — and the rules, regulations orders and controls that go with them — dilute and discredit the few laws that make sense.
As the quip goes, “Ten commandments were good enough for God, what the Hell are WE doing?”
In the vain attempt to enforce all these bogus democratic rules-mentality repressive obsessions, you obviously need more and more enforcement personnel.
And as the work-load mushrooms into impossibility and the helpful folks select themselves out, the character of those remaining personnel morphs from previously helpful “Peace Officers” into intimidating and sometimes murderous and accurately named LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) instead. They begin to assault and kill citizens rather than keeping the peace.
And BTW, Police [now the LEOs] Have No Duty to Protect You, Federal Court Affirms Yet Again.
Folks begin to talk about living in a police state and while there’s still lip-service to freedom, folks forget what it feels like to be free, and the young never know.
Eventually, LEOs become assassination targets.
Because of the case-load caused by all the laws, trial by jury — designed to protect minorities — becomes unworkable and so the establishment replaces it with plea blackmail — they call it plea bargain — and only about 2% of cases that aren’t dismissed ever see a jury.
And even then, the “justice” establishment uses voir dire to stack all it’s juries and so nearly snuffs-out jury nullification, one of the most powerful minority protections built-in to The Constitution.
Using plea blackmail, overzealous interrogations often convince people who didn’t commit the crime to confess anyway. So, while innocent folks go to prison and may even be executed — and the real perp runs free — it makes the law-and-order industry stats look good.
There are so many laws, it’s plausibly estimated that the average American, mostly unknowingly, commits three felonies a day.
With that statistic in mind, it should be no surprise that the U.S.A. holds by far the world record for per-capita incarceration.
In the “freest country in the world,” about 1 in 31 Americans is in prison, on probation or on parole, two out-of-three for victimless “crimes.” We’re so far ahead in the race to incarcerate, no other country is even visible in the rear-view mirror.
The other side of that coin is that, since we’re all guilty of some fake “felony” or other — and the NSA likely has the evidence recorded from your device — we can be threatened, blackmailed, and/or persecuted by the establishment at will.
While this phase of “our democracy” is just beginning to bite, you regularly see the ground truth in cop shows when a LEO threatens someone with arrest on some technicality if they don’t kow-tow.
Look what they’re doing (2019 A.D.), even to rich-man Trump, his family, and particularly his associates.
So the first key to our disaffection with democracy is all the laws, rules, regulations, orders and controls etc. that accumulate in a bogus winner-takes-all territorial democracy and the chaos they cause. The deteriorating deportment of the minions and those they hire to enforce all those legislative emissions tip folks off they’re in a rapidly deteriorating police state and well on the way to discord, discontent, disharmony, upheaval, chaos, and political disaster.
And this isn’t unique to the U.S.A., just more pronounced — because we’ve been around longer.
But there’s that second key leading to political disaster. It involves your “dues,” present and future, and the economic parasites that feed on ’em – – –
While by no means the only economic interest that manipulates government for fun and profit, Central Bankers are the most egregious — and they’re also central to why democracy is destroying the world.
The Central Bank scheme is simple: Just get governments to create you as a monopoly and then borrow money from you, exclusively at first.
Such loans are highly desirable because governments borrow huge amounts and they’re super-safe because, like the Mafia and other protection rackets, governments extort their “dues” money from “their” citizens as “taxes” with threats, intimidation, and if necessary, actual use of the taxman’s gun.
The biggest and most successful running example is the IRS/Federal-Reserve swindle in the U.S.. It was pioneered by early U.S. banksters and perfected in Nicaragua and other central American countries around the turn of the 20th Century, then gradually up-scaled and “improved” here in the U.S. beginning in 1913. You can find a very rough history of that quite interesting evolution here: SILENT PARTNERS .
The result is a memetic machine that operates as a reverse Robin Hood with the Central Banks as the nexus. It takes from everyone, especially poorer folks, and gives to the professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage.
“Economic Hitman” John Perkins explains the updated scam and how it deals with foreign minions who are reluctant to indebt their citizens to the international moneyed interests and their political procedure manipulators here.
In the context of destruction of The Republic, note that until passage of the Income Tax in tandem with the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, Washington D.C. lived perfectly well on import tariffs and excise taxes alone.
So at first, the minions didn’t try to directly rip us flesh-and-blood residents off with the so-called personal income tax. That was outlawed in the body of The Constitution. It still is. Like this – – –
“No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.” –UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, Article I, Section 9.
The income tax, when applied to flesh-and-blood residents, is a direct tax because as a flesh-and-blood person, you can’t pass it on to anyone. So, the key is, is it “laid …in Proportion to the Census?” If not, it’s outlawed by The Constitution as above, and cannot and does not apply to flesh-and-blood Americans.
The 16th Amendment? Its “income tax” is an excise tax and applies mainly to corporations, ultimately the price their owners pay for the government’s legal system limiting their liability. When you sign your 1040 form, you volunteer to be taxed as if you are a privileged corporation. ^^w
Before the IRS/Federal-Reserve swindle , the minions were limited because they didn’t have a Central Bank eager to lend them money — or a big chunk of their citizens’ future income-tax “dues” and future labor as collateral for those loans.
Keep in mind the banksters don’t want to be paid back, they just want to keep collecting that super-safe interest.
The simple way to expose this swindle is to ask, “Why do governments keep borrowing instead of paying cash?”
By styling these loans as the “National Debt,” the banksters made sure there was no escaping the payments — not even by death or personal bankruptcy — because the “National Debt” is automatically passed on to the kids, grand kids, and the yet unborn through taxes.
As the quip goes, “We used to pay-off the mortgage and leave our kids the farm, now we mortgage the farm and leave our kids the payments.”
That’s a major clue to why the banksters are the second key to democracy destroying the world – – – and the final disaster lurches into view.
See, if the minions want to get re-elected, there’s a limit to the amount of “dues” they can extort from their bamboozled citizens and voters, even when about a third of the extortions are hidden. So they borrow instead. Because the kids, grand kids, and yet unborn — who will get the bill — can’t vote.
But we’re the grand kids and those bills are now coming due.
In the U.S. as of mid 2020 A.D., the National Debt is about $26 trillion and growing rapidly. If you trust government figures, you can find the “Debt to The Penny” HERE
But that’s not the only debt the minions have passed on to the kids, grand kids and yet unborn.
Remember those programs the minions passed to get re-elected, even sometimes ones the “unbridled majorities” may have wanted? Ones that may have been written by lobbyists and not read by the minions?
While there are a bunch of these, we only need to look at two to see the magnitude of the problem here in the U.S.A.
According to Forbes in 2017, the combined bill for Medicare and, via the Social “Security” Ponzi scheme, promised by the U.S. Government to old folks — who were taxed in advance by F.I.C.A. to pay for it — includes over $200-trillion in “unfunded liabilities.” That means the minions have no serious idea where that money will come from.
Somehow, they’ll have to try to extort it from the kids, grand kids, and the yet unborn. Or default on the promise.
Think of the federal government as a gigantic [social] insurance company with a sideline business in national defense and homeland security. This particular insurance company, it turns out, has made personal promises to its policyholders that have a current value …in excess of the revenues it expects to receive. An insurance company with cash accounting is not really an insurance company at all,” he added, “it’s an accident waiting to happen.” -Peter Fisher, U.S. under secretary of the Treasury for domestic finance, Russell On Gold, Dow Theory Letters, 22 November, 2002
If you have your heart medicine and tranquilizers handy — and your firearms safely out of reach — you can find a dynamic and good-enough-for-government-work balance sheet of the situation HERE.
The bottom line is, that to get re-elected, the politicians pass the compounding costs of government on to the kids, grand kids and yet unborn.
Intergenerational Warfare anyone?
The situation is similar in nearly all democracies. The difference is, when the minions in other democracies can’t tax and borrow anymore, they go to external sources, usually the World Bank’s political lending arm, the IMF. Both are controlled by the U.S.
But like all bankers, the IMF wants to be sure it will get those regular interest payments and they clearly see the problems that caused the politicians to ask them for loans in the first place.
So as part of the conditions for its loans, the IMF requires a decrease in government spending — called “austerity.”
Austerity, rather than cutting out favors to those special interests, instead requires cutting back the “free” government services citizens are being taxed to pay for and have become addicted to. But now folks can’t afford these on their own because of their tax burden — and the costs have mushroomed because there are no market forces controlling government programs.
Usually the IMF requires the wimpy minions to also increase taxes on their already squeezed “citizens” — or as some call them more accurately, “tax slaves” — as well. And the bulk of the loan must first go to pay-off previous loans from the IMF and the other wise-guy financial “vultures” circling the carcass.
Only a few realize they’ve been voted into tax-slavery by the minions, and, what with all the rules, regulations, orders and controls — and their devices monitored 24/7 and CCTV cameras everywhere — into what is beginning to resemble an open-air gulag. None the less, one way or another, nearly everyone feels it in their personal lives.
So, although few see the big picture, you now have a super-saturated solution of disillusioned and often desperate citizens — well over half discontented with democracy, remember — and, as Peter Fisher put it, an accident just waiting to happen.
A tiny additional crystal or even a speck of dust falling into such a super-saturated solution will cause it to crystalize into demonstrations, often violent street-riots, revolts, revolutions, etc. just as documented at the top of this article. Often it’s what insiders like former World-Bank Chief-Economist Joseph Stiglitz expect and accurately call “The IMF Riot.”
While that additional crystal or speck can be almost anything — an additional tax on petrol in France, slightly increased subway fares in Chile, perceived government corruption in Lebanon — according to one remarkably accurate model, there’s one thing that most dependably predicts these outcomes: An increase in the price of basic necessities, particularly food.
So it isn’t “income inequality” as hopeful socialists like to imagine — few begrudge Bill Gates his billions, even though they did come from Microsoft Windows — it’s the specter of starvation.
And so we come to discord, discontent, disharmony, upheaval, chaos, and political disaster, often leading to totalitarianism. And, with the minions stacking laws and debt on future generations to get re-elected, not only Why Democracy Is Destroying the World but how.
And, no surprise, the idiots who want to transform a well-crafted Republic into a doomed democracy are those psychopathic personalities attracted to government and those economic interests that want to use it for their own ends. Until it self-destructs.
The thing is, the idiots weren’t idiots all at once, they were sort of incremental idiots like this remember – – –
“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms [of government] those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” –Thomas Jefferson, 1778
The control, power and money the psychopaths and economic interests get by manipulating a representative democracy is their purloined prize and why they do it, at least until their mechanism self-destructs.
Few of them are aware of the looming disaster until it’s too late because it evolves as a usually unnoticed long-cycle memetic machine like this – – –
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” –Frederic Bastiat
Why would “we” go along with it? Well, if “we” understood what was happening, “we” wouldn’t. Unfortunately our more recent ancestors made the mistake of dropping that eternal vigilence and trusting the minions. And of taking them seriously, although we know that they have to be good liars to get elected. And they tend to be psychopaths. Unfortunately, most of us still don’t know that.
And, in addition to mistaking state-based territorial representative democracy for natural democracy — along with the incessant drone of “our democracy” soundbytes of course — the main thing that usually bamboozles folks is the completely unwarranted and usually unstated assumption that it’s your values which the democracy will attempt to foist on everyone else in your territorial area.
And so while voting should be like this – – –
If the law were confined to its proper functions, everyone’s interest in the law would be the same. Is it not clear that, under these circumstances, those who voted could not inconvenience those who did not vote? –Frederick Bastiat, The Law
Instead, in a bogus democracy, you vote once every four years and then the lobbyists, psychopaths, and special interests take over.
In a bogus democracy then, as T.J. Lowi explains so well, voting has become a trick to con large numbers of people into enslaving themselves to a memetic machine designed to rob them, originally created by a gaggle of mostly long-dead banking “elites” and others “who knew how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage.”
As a result, any resemblance between That Thing That Lives in Washington D.C. and what’s specified in The U.S. Constitution is now purely coincidental.
As explained by 43rd U.S. President G.W. Bush, “… Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!“
Once the Constitutional limits and constraints on the minions are overcome by claims that “the majority rules” and “it’s what the people want,” what’s left to prevent the dangerous servant from becoming the fearful master? What’s left to stop the minions and idiots from converting the stable Republic into just another doomed democracy? What’s left to prevent coercive winner-takes-all bogus-democracy-enabled totalitarianism?
TO SUM UP:
Despite all the hype and circumstance to the contrary, the majority of folks in the world are unhappy with their democracies, even if they don’t understand exactly why.
Of the three forms of democracy, Natural democracy is the only one that doesn’t coerce “dues” and participation. It’s the kind we instincively seek and ass-u-me.
The other two — direct democracy and representative democracy — require coercion to exact “dues” and force compliance.
Even relatively small democracies always become bogus because, as enshrined in The Iron Law of Oligarchy and elsewhere, “making decisions by majority rule gives power not to the people, but to professionals who know how to manipulate political procedures to their advantage.”
Our early American ancestors warned against the dangers of these inherently coercive democracies, pointing out that they lead to “elective despotism” (Thomas Jefferson) “tyrannical unbridled majorities” (John Adams) and “have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” (James Madison)
They also understood the dangers of government in general. George Washington put it like this:
“Government is not eloquence, it is not reason; it is force, and like fire, makes a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
The U.S. Constitution, as originally written and intended, was a damn good barrier, minimizing the dangers of government, and protecting us individuals and our differences against not only democracy, but also against tin-pot dictators and so-called “royalty.”
However, as Jefferson forewarned – – – “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”
– – – and Bastiat explained — “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” –Frederic Bastiat
This happened here in the U.S. because, despite those warnings, the minions, elected and hired to administer the U.S. Constitution, largely financed by “special intetests,” none-the-less followed that unfortunate path. Using winner-takes-all democracy as a ruse, they gradually bamboozled us unwary victims into foresaking the stable Republic and riding “our“ tax-funded democracy down the path to tyranny and perdition.
This gradual pernicious degradation happens largely because, in the stampede to get re-elected, the minions pass laws that accumulate over time, making things more and more repressive to more and more individuals. And then, to pay for especially the pork-barrel “laws” and programs, the elected prevaricators run-up bills that accumulate as the so-called “national debt” — and other financial obligations — that eventually swamp the kids, grand kids and yet unborn in impossible tax debt.
While many things may precipitate the inevitable upheavals and sometimes revolution, the modern rule-of-thumb that predicts it is when the cost of necessities, particularly food, raises the specter of starvation and destitution.
None the less, bamboozled folks from Amy Goodman (Democracy Now) to mis-named “Republicans” praise “our democracy” and try to foist similar on folks all around the world.
Now, much to your surprise I’d bet, you know why democracy is destroying the world. And how.
So, is the U.S. being converted from a stable Republic into a doomed democracy by mistake or is it being done by design? Or is it something else even more troubling?
The most important if uncomfortable question is, as usual, “What are you going to do about it?”
Here for updates, additions, comments, and corrections.
AND, “Like,” “Tweet,” and otherwise, pass this along!
The Best of L. Reichard White


lewrockwell--2020-07-04--Who Is the Greatest Living Economist?

Who Is the Greatest Living Economist?

With the venerable Dr. Thomas Sowell turning ninety this week , a question arises in the fintwit ( financial Twitter ) world : Who is the greatest living economist ?
This question is more difficult than it appears .
First , determining the “ greatest ” individual in any human field is always a highly subjective endeavor , whether we ’ re talking about economists or basketball players .
Do we mean the most brilliant economist , in terms of sheer mental horsepower , or the most influential ?
The most prolific ?
Most “ correct ” ?
Most respected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policymakers or the public ?
The economist with the most significant impact today ?
The most famous ?
Someone who is most popular among their academic peers , or best known to lay audiences ?
A wonkish technician , or a pop editorialist like Paul Krugman ?
Someone with a strong political orientation , like Thomas Piketty , or an ideologically inscrutable professor type ?
And should lay audiences have a vote , or only professional and academic economists equipped to judge the technical prowess and substance of a peer ?
Pro Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 17.99 Again , this question is highly subjective and unlikely to produce a broad consensus answer .
But let me offer three seemingly obvious criteria for greatness : ( i ) the individual has made significant original contributions to the existing economics literature , and not only in a very narrow area or subdiscipline ; ( ii ) the individual has produced a significant treatise ( not just a book or articles ) synthesizing and expanding the existing body of knowledge in at least one important area of economics ( e.g.
, money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) the individual will continue to be widely read and cited after their death .
With all this in mind , I asked several economists to nominate the greatest living economist .
Admittedly everyone I canvassed is Austrian or free market in their orientation , but all were asked to consider the profession as a whole in their answers .
And I insisted they limit themselves to one name ( but caved to the pressure and made an exception for Bob Murphy ) .
Here are some of the answers , to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked to sleep on it ! )
: Professor Walter Block , Loyola University New Orleans : Bill Barnett .
“ I vote for Bill Barnett .
He ’ s been my mentor in econ for the last 20 years or so , particularly in money macro .
He ’ s brilliant , creative.
” Professor Per Bylund , Oklahoma State University : Hernando de Soto .
“ I agree with the names that have already been mentioned .
If I were to add a name with a different type of impact and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Soto .
For his uncovering of how poor people in poor countries have capital but lack the institutional support to use it .
Had this been a couple of years ago I would have added Harold Demsetz to the list.
” Professor Thomas DiLorenzo , Loyola University Maryland : Thomas Sowell .
“ Good Chicago-trained economist whose work has educated millions , everything from his Economics in One Lesson–style textbook to books on race and everything else.
” American Defiance T-Sh ... Buy New $ 18.95 Professor Carmen Elena Dorobăț , Manchester Business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question , difficult to answer because economics is so fragmented these days ; no one is writing treatises and thus discussing economics as a whole .
That said , my view is ( probably biased ) that work on monetary theory and/or international trade , by the nature of the subjects , comes closest to doing economics in its original sense ( a unified explanation of how markets work ) .
With that in mind , Jagdish Bhagwati and Douglas Irwin on the international trade side , and Robert Mundell on the monetary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also do quite a bit of history of economic thought , and history of economic policy , which is becoming a lost art in the mainstream these days .
If I had to rank them , it ’ d probably be Bhagwati , Mundell , Irwin .
I hope this helps !
And just to be clear , Joe Salerno is better than all of them.
” Peter Earle , American Institute for Economic Research : Israel Kirzner .
“ I would choose Israel Kirzner .
He bridged the gap between Austrian and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t compromise the methodological basis of the Austrian school and put the entrepreneur at the center of the market process : coordinating consumption demands with plans of production though constant relative movements of price and the interplay between profit ( reward ) and loss ( sanction ) .
A process whereby alertness within market systems leads to discovery and creation is vastly more nuanced than the prefiguring Walrasian model.
” Professor Richard Ebeling , The Citadel : Israel Kirzner .
“ In my view , the greatest living economist is Israel M. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the last living giant of the modern Austrian school who has successfully helped to preserve and restore the ‘ Austrian ’ tradition ( along with the late Murray N. Rothbard ) , and , second , due to his own unique and important contributions ( building on Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich A. Hayek ) to the theory of the entrepreneur and the market process.
” Gene Epstein , Barron ’ s ( retired ) and the Soho Forum : George Reisman .
“ Ironically , not because of what George happens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the theory of profit ) but for all the energetic and imaginative insights I find in his massive tome Capitalism .
For example , I often cite his lucid explanation of why wages rise under free market capitalism , despite ‘ worker need & employer greed ’ ; his recognition that , while land acquisition has historically unjust roots , the ‘ stain ’ gets wiped away under free market capitalism ; or his balanced critique of Adam Smith as having written some of the best and worst stuff on free markets.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ New $ 5.35 Dr. David Gordon , Mises Institute : Joseph Salerno .
“ Joe Salerno is the economist I would rely on for understanding Austrian economics.
” Professor Peter Klein , Baylor University : Robert Lucas .
“ I ’ m going to interpret your question to refer not to economists I personally like , but to those who are universally recognized in the field for accomplishment , influence , etc .
The way ‘ greatest economist ’ might have been interpreted in Menger ’ s or Mises ’ s day .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Stiglitz who are widely regarded as politically motivated public intellectuals , not serious economists , along with highly cited , but younger scholars like Daron Acemoglu.
” Professor Matthew McCaffrey , University of Manchester : Amartya Sen. “ Sen ’ s work on development marks a break from the narrow , technical accounts of development that treat it purely as a matter of increasing economic indicators like GDP .
Although Austrians can find much to criticize in his broader approach to economics , his work raises interesting questions and challenges that are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fitted Tactical ... Buy New $ 17.95 Dr. Robert Murphy , Mises Institute and Independent Institute : Robert Lucas , hedged with Dr. Joe Salerno .
“ The problem is that my personal views are so far removed from the profession that I will cheat and answer two related questions , rather than what Jeff asked .
1 ) Who is the most important economist among living Nobel laureates ?
I would say Robert Lucas .
His critique of old-school Keynesian macroeconometric models was an amazing achievement in science , the way intellectuals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Then his work on rational expectations laid the foundation for RBC and a lot of the modern Chicago school approach to financial markets .
Furthermore , he is quite simply a super smart guy ; e.g.
, in grad school we used his textbook on recursive mathematical methods .
Even his critics agree that the models in the literature he spawned were elegant and rigorous ; they were just wrong .
2 ) The reason I don ’ t say Lucas is the greatest living economist is that he ’ s missing out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ developed in the Misesian tradition .
So , who is the single best living economist to exemplify what the rest of the profession is missing ?
Joe Salerno.
” Professor Mark Thornton , Auburn University and the Mises Institute : Robert Higgs .
“ I nominate Bob Higgs for his reinterpretation of modern American history .
He transitioned from a mainstream economist to a radical Austrian.
” Of course no single opinion is dispositive .
But it ’ s important to consider economists in the broader context of truth and human advancement , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the moment the discipline is at great risk of losing its place as a meaningful science thanks to an orgy of mathematical methods and politicized demands for a “ new ” economics .
We need to build a generation of young economists who actually understand history and theory , and we need to build it fast .
The Best of Jeff Deist

With the venerable Dr. Thomas Sowell turning ninety this week, a question arises in the fintwit (financial Twitter) world: Who is the greatest living economist?
This question is more difficult than it appears. First, determining the “greatest” individual in any human field is always a highly subjective endeavor, whether we’re talking about economists or basketball players. Do we mean the most brilliant economist, in terms of sheer mental horsepower, or the most influential? The most prolific? Most “correct”? Most respected? Most listened to, either by policymakers or the public? The economist with the most significant impact today? The most famous? Someone who is most popular among their academic peers, or best known to lay audiences? A wonkish technician, or a pop editorialist like Paul Krugman? Someone with a strong political orientation, like Thomas Piketty, or an ideologically inscrutable professor type? And should lay audiences have a vote, or only professional and academic economists equipped to judge the technical prowess and substance of a peer?
Pro Trump Ditch The Bi... Buy New $17.99 (as of 05:08 UTC - Details) Again, this question is highly subjective and unlikely to produce a broad consensus answer. But let me offer three seemingly obvious criteria for greatness: (i) the individual has made significant original contributions to the existing economics literature, and not only in a very narrow area or subdiscipline; (ii) the individual has produced a significant treatise (not just a book or articles) synthesizing and expanding the existing body of knowledge in at least one important area of economics (e.g., money and banking); and (iii) the individual will continue to be widely read and cited after their death.
With all this in mind, I asked several economists to nominate the greatest living economist. Admittedly everyone I canvassed is Austrian or free market in their orientation, but all were asked to consider the profession as a whole in their answers. And I insisted they limit themselves to one name (but caved to the pressure and made an exception for Bob Murphy).
Here are some of the answers, to be updated as I receive more (some asked to sleep on it!):
Professor Walter Block, Loyola University New Orleans: Bill Barnett. “I vote for Bill Barnett. He’s been my mentor in econ for the last 20 years or so, particularly in money macro. He’s brilliant, creative.”
Professor Per Bylund, Oklahoma State University: Hernando de Soto. “I agree with the names that have already been mentioned. If I were to add a name with a different type of impact and importance, I might pick Hernando de Soto. For his uncovering of how poor people in poor countries have capital but lack the institutional support to use it. Had this been a couple of years ago I would have added Harold Demsetz to the list.”
Professor Thomas DiLorenzo, Loyola University Maryland: Thomas Sowell. “Good Chicago-trained economist whose work has educated millions, everything from his Economics in One Lesson–style textbook to books on race and everything else.” American Defiance T-Sh... Buy New $18.95 (as of 05:08 UTC - Details)
Professor Carmen Elena Dorobăț, Manchester Business School: Jagdish Bhagwati. “Interesting question, difficult to answer because economics is so fragmented these days; no one is writing treatises and thus discussing economics as a whole. That said, my view is (probably biased) that work on monetary theory and/or international trade, by the nature of the subjects, comes closest to doing economics in its original sense (a unified explanation of how markets work). With that in mind, Jagdish Bhagwati and Douglas Irwin on the international trade side, and Robert Mundell on the monetary side are possible candidates. They all also do quite a bit of history of economic thought, and history of economic policy, which is becoming a lost art in the mainstream these days. If I had to rank them, it’d probably be Bhagwati, Mundell, Irwin. I hope this helps! And just to be clear, Joe Salerno is better than all of them.”
Peter Earle, American Institute for Economic Research: Israel Kirzner. “I would choose Israel Kirzner. He bridged the gap between Austrian and neoclassical theory in a way which didn’t compromise the methodological basis of the Austrian school and put the entrepreneur at the center of the market process: coordinating consumption demands with plans of production though constant relative movements of price and the interplay between profit (reward) and loss (sanction). A process whereby alertness within market systems leads to discovery and creation is vastly more nuanced than the prefiguring Walrasian model.”
Professor Richard Ebeling, The Citadel: Israel Kirzner. “In my view, the greatest living economist is Israel M. Kirzner. Why? First, he is the last living giant of the modern Austrian school who has successfully helped to preserve and restore the ‘Austrian’ tradition (along with the late Murray N. Rothbard), and, second, due to his own unique and important contributions (building on Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich A. Hayek) to the theory of the entrepreneur and the market process.”
Gene Epstein, Barron’s (retired) and the Soho Forum: George Reisman. “Ironically, not because of what George happens to think is his major contribution (to the theory of profit) but for all the energetic and imaginative insights I find in his massive tome Capitalism. For example, I often cite his lucid explanation of why wages rise under free market capitalism, despite ‘worker need & employer greed’; his recognition that, while land acquisition has historically unjust roots, the ‘stain’ gets wiped away under free market capitalism; or his balanced critique of Adam Smith as having written some of the best and worst stuff on free markets.” Donald Trump Coin 2020... Buy New $5.35 (as of 05:19 UTC - Details)
Dr. David Gordon, Mises Institute: Joseph Salerno. “Joe Salerno is the economist I would rely on for understanding Austrian economics.”
Professor Steve H. Hanke, Johns Hopkins University: PENDING.
Professor Emeritus Hans-Hermann Hoppe, University of Nevada Las Vegas: PENDING.
Professor Peter Klein, Baylor University: Robert Lucas. “I’m going to interpret your question to refer not to economists I personally like, but to those who are universally recognized in the field for accomplishment, influence, etc. The way ‘greatest economist’ might have been interpreted in Menger’s or Mises’s day. That would rule out people like Krugman and Stiglitz who are widely regarded as politically motivated public intellectuals, not serious economists, along with highly cited, but younger scholars like Daron Acemoglu.”
Professor Matthew McCaffrey, University of Manchester: Amartya Sen. “Sen’s work on development marks a break from the narrow, technical accounts of development that treat it purely as a matter of increasing economic indicators like GDP. Although Austrians can find much to criticize in his broader approach to economics, his work raises interesting questions and challenges that are usually absent from mainstream research.”
Condor Fitted Tactical... Buy New $17.95 (as of 05:08 UTC - Details) Dr. Robert Murphy, Mises Institute and Independent Institute: Robert Lucas, hedged with Dr. Joe Salerno. “The problem is that my personal views are so far removed from the profession that I will cheat and answer two related questions, rather than what Jeff asked. 1) Who is the most important economist among living Nobel laureates? I would say Robert Lucas. His critique of old-school Keynesian macroeconometric models was an amazing achievement in science, the way intellectuals conceive of the advancement of science. Then his work on rational expectations laid the foundation for RBC and a lot of the modern Chicago school approach to financial markets. Furthermore, he is quite simply a super smart guy; e.g., in grad school we used his textbook on recursive mathematical methods. Even his critics agree that the models in the literature he spawned were elegant and rigorous; they were just wrong. 2) The reason I don’t say Lucas is the greatest living economist is that he’s missing out on the importance of economic calculation as developed in the Misesian tradition. So, who is the single best living economist to exemplify what the rest of the profession is missing? Joe Salerno.”
Professor Emeritus George Reisman, Pepperdine University: George Reisman.
Professor Mark Thornton, Auburn University and the Mises Institute: Robert Higgs. “I nominate Bob Higgs for his reinterpretation of modern American history. He transitioned from a mainstream economist to a radical Austrian.”
Of course no single opinion is dispositive. But it’s important to consider economists in the broader context of truth and human advancement, and assess their relative contributions. At the moment the discipline is at great risk of losing its place as a meaningful science thanks to an orgy of mathematical methods and politicized demands for a “new” economics. We need to build a generation of young economists who actually understand history and theory, and we need to build it fast.
The Best of Jeff Deist