lewrockwell--2020-02-28--Heart Attack or Panic Attack? How To Tell the Difference

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,1 nearly 805,000 Americans have a heart attack each year , and 605,000 are first heart attacks .
Knowing the risk factors , symptoms and how to take early action will increase your chances of survival .
However , what may look and feel like an apparent heart attack may actually be a panic attack , and according to researchers , the cost of misdiagnosing noncardiac chest pain is high.2 “ It is important for physicians to be able to recognize panic attacks and to distinguish them from cardiac disease , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resources , ” one report states.3 An investigation4 published in 1996 found that 25 % of emergency room patients presenting with chest pain met the DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder , yet attending emergency department cardiologists failed to recognize patients having a panic attack 98 % of the time .
As noted by the authors:5 So , just how do you tell the two apart ?
Before we get into those details , let ’ s take a look at the common signs and symptoms associated with each .
When a heart attack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has suddenly become blocked and the muscle can ’ t get oxygen .
If not treated quickly , the muscle fails to pump and begins to die .
While often a result of coronary heart disease , a heart attack can also be caused by a blood clot blocking an artery .
Some of the most common symptoms of a heart attack include:6 A panic attack typically comes on abruptly , producing intense fear and a sense of impending doom or even death that is typically severely disproportionate to the situation at hand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tend to peak within 10 minutes , and most subside within 30 minutes .
Few last more than one hour .
It ’ s not uncommon for people to seek medical help , thinking they ’ re having a heart attack or are dying , when panic attacks first set in and they ’ re unfamiliar with the symptoms.7 How to Tell Them Apart While it can be very difficult to tell a panic attack from a heart attack , some generalizations can be made that can help tell them apart.8 • Pain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a heart attack will typically start as a feeling of pressure , fullness or aching that escalates , reaching maximum severity after a few minutes , whereas the pain associated with a panic attack tends to be sharp and stabbing in the center of the chest , typically lasting only five to 10 seconds .
• Pain location — The location of the pain also tends to differ between the two .
Whereas panic-associated pain is localized in one small area of the chest , heart attack symptoms typically include pain or discomfort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ areas , such as one or both arms , abdomen , back , shoulders , neck , throat or jaw .
EMF*D : 5G , Wi-Fi & Cel ... Dr. Joseph Mercola Buy New $ 22.49 When in doubt , seek immediate medical attention .
It ’ s better to be safe than sorry , as sudden death is the most common symptom of a heart attack .
As noted by Dr. Sam Torbati , medical director of the Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department in an interview for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center:9 Possible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s also worth getting your symptoms checked out even if you ’ re certain they ’ re due to a panic attack .
Some research suggests there may in fact be a connection between panic disorder and coronary artery disease , although the exact relationship is still unclear .
According to a 2008 review in The Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry:10 The review11 cites evidence suggesting ischemia is the cause of the chest pain felt during a panic attack , and researchers have found there ’ s an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nonischemic chest pain alike .
According to the authors , “ Myocardial ischemia could cause panic attacks via increased catecholamines or cerebral carbon dioxide levels secondary to lactate.
” What ’ s more , when looking at a large managed care database , researchers found an association between panic disorder and coronary heart disease and this association remained even after controlling for covariates.12 Overall , patients with panic disorder were between 80 % and 91 % more likely to also have coronary heart disease .
Patients diagnosed with both panic disorder and depression @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more likely to develop coronary heart disease than patients without those mental health problems.13 On the flip side , research14 published in 2017 also points out that “ Anxiety and its associated disorders are common in patients with cardiovascular disease and may significantly influence cardiac health.
” According to this paper : It ’ s also important to realize that the symptoms of heart attack can vary from person to person and some may have very few symptoms , especially women.15 Importantly , research16,17 shows women are less likely to report chest pain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re also less likely to suspect their discomfort is related to a heart problem .
Compared to just 11.8 % of men , 20.9 % of women attributed their chest pain to stress or anxiety .
Women also tend to describe their pain differently .
They ’ re more likely to use terms such as “ pressure , ” “ tightness ” or “ discomfort ” in the chest rather than referring to it as “ chest pain.
” Fat for Fuel : A Revolu ... Dr. Joseph Mercola Best Price : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are also more likely to dismiss women ’ s complaints of chest pain as being noncardiac in nature .
Overall , 53 % of female heart attack patients reported that their doctor did not think their symptoms were heart-related , compared to 37 % of male heart attack patients .
Approximately 29.5 % of women had actually sought medical help before being hospitalized with a heart attack , compared to just 22.1 % of men .
What these findings suggest is that women and their doctors tend to misdiagnose or dismiss symptoms of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher risk of death than men .
As noted by the authors:18 Unfortunately , the absence of chest discomfort is a strong predictor of diagnosis and treatment delays.19 For this reason , it ’ s important to remember there are many other symptoms that might indicate a heart attack in progress , including the following:20 When it comes to panic attacks , familiarizing yourself with the function of your fight-or-flight response can be helpful to guide you toward self-help strategies that work for your unique situation .
For example , contrary to popular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worsen a panic attack , as explained by Buteyko Breathing expert Patrick McKeown .
A breathing exercise that can help quell anxiety and panic attacks is summarized below .
This sequence helps retain and gently accumulate carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) , leading to calmer breathing and reduced anxiety .
In other words , the urge to breathe will decline as you go into a more relaxed state .
• Take a small breath into your nose , a small breath out ; hold your nose for five seconds in order to hold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resume breathing .
• Repeat the sequence several more times : small breath in through your nose , small breath out ; hold your breath for five seconds , then let go and breathe normally for 10 seconds .
McKeown has also written a book specifically aimed at the treatment of anxiety through optimal breathing , called “ Anxiety Free : Stop Worrying and Quieten Your Mind — Featuring the Buteyko Breathing Method and Mindfulness , ” which can be found on Amazon.com.21 In addition to the book , ButeykoClinic.com also offers a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the book , along with several free chapters22 and accompanying videos.23 Energy psychology techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques ( EFT ) can also be very effective for anxiety and panic attacks.24,25,26 EFT is akin to acupuncture , which is based on the concept that a vital energy flows through your body along invisible pathways known as meridians .
EFT stimulates different energy meridian points in your body by tapping them with your fingertips , while simultaneously using custom-made verbal affirmations .
This can be done alone or under the supervision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so , you reprogram the way your body responds to emotional stressors .
KetoFast : Rejuvenate Y ... Dr. Joseph Mercola Best Price : $ 7.13 Buy New $ 9.64 EFT is particularly powerful for treating stress and anxiety because it specifically targets your amygdala and hippocampus , which are the parts of your brain that help you decide whether or not something is a threat.27 EFT has also been scientifically shown to lower cortisol levels,28 which are elevated when you ’ re stressed or anxious .
In the video above , EFT @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for panic attacks .
Please keep in mind that while anyone can learn to do EFT at home , self-treatment for serious issues like persistent anxiety is not recommended .
For serious or complex issues , you need someone to guide you through the process .
That said , the more you tap , the more skilled you ’ ll become .
As for heart attacks , your best course of action is to take proactive measures to prevent them .
According to a 2015 study , more than 70 % of heart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Getting at least 2.5 hours of exercise each week and watching television seven or fewer hours per week • Limiting alcohol to one drink or less per day To this I would add maintaining a healthy iron level is important for your heart , as various studies show that both iron deficiency and iron overload30 can be a significant risk factor for heart attack .
For example , a Scandinavian study31 found elevated ferritin levels raised men ’ s risk of heart attack two- to threefold .
Another32 found elevated ferritin raised the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 218 % in men , while women with high levels were 5.53 times more likely to have a fatal heart attack .
As discussed in “ Why Hard Water Decreases Heart Attacks , ” magnesium insufficiency has also been implicated in heart attacks , so you want to make sure you ’ re getting enough magnesium from your diet and/or supplements .
In “ Could You Have a Heart Attack and Not Know It ?
” I also review some of the underlying issues that cause heart attacks , and additional steps you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Best of Joseph Mercola

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,1 nearly 805,000 Americans have a heart attack each year, and 605,000 are first heart attacks. Knowing the risk factors, symptoms and how to take early action will increase your chances of survival.
However, what may look and feel like an apparent heart attack may actually be a panic attack, and according to researchers, the cost of misdiagnosing noncardiac chest pain is high.2 “It is important for physicians to be able to recognize panic attacks and to distinguish them from cardiac disease, thus avoiding unnecessary use of health care resources,” one report states.3
An investigation4 published in 1996 found that 25% of emergency room patients presenting with chest pain met the DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder, yet attending emergency department cardiologists failed to recognize patients having a panic attack 98% of the time. As noted by the authors:5
“Panic disorder is a significantly distressful condition highly prevalent in ED [emergency department] chest pain patients that is rarely recognized by physicians. Nonrecognition may lead to mismanagement of a significant group of distressed patients with or without coronary artery disease.”
So, just how do you tell the two apart? Before we get into those details, let’s take a look at the common signs and symptoms associated with each.
Symptoms of Heart Attack
When a heart attack starts, blood flow to your heart has suddenly become blocked and the muscle can’t get oxygen. If not treated quickly, the muscle fails to pump and begins to die. While often a result of coronary heart disease, a heart attack can also be caused by a blood clot blocking an artery. Some of the most common symptoms of a heart attack include:6

A panic attack typically comes on abruptly, producing intense fear and a sense of impending doom or even death that is typically severely disproportionate to the situation at hand. Common symptoms include:
Panic attacks tend to peak within 10 minutes, and most subside within 30 minutes. Few last more than one hour. It’s not uncommon for people to seek medical help, thinking they’re having a heart attack or are dying, when panic attacks first set in and they’re unfamiliar with the symptoms.7
How to Tell Them Apart
While it can be very difficult to tell a panic attack from a heart attack, some generalizations can be made that can help tell them apart.8
Pain onset — The chest pain associated with a heart attack will typically start as a feeling of pressure, fullness or aching that escalates, reaching maximum severity after a few minutes, whereas the pain associated with a panic attack tends to be sharp and stabbing in the center of the chest, typically lasting only five to 10 seconds.
Pain location — The location of the pain also tends to differ between the two. Whereas panic-associated pain is localized in one small area of the chest, heart attack symptoms typically include pain or discomfort that radiates from the chest into other areas, such as one or both arms, abdomen, back, shoulders, neck, throat or jaw.
Don’t Ignore Your Symptoms
EMF*D: 5G, Wi-Fi & Cel... Dr. Joseph Mercola Buy New $22.49 (as of 09:53 UTC - Details) When in doubt, seek immediate medical attention. It’s better to be safe than sorry, as sudden death is the most common symptom of a heart attack. As noted by Dr. Sam Torbati, medical director of the Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department in an interview for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center:9
“Unfortunately, there is great crossover between the symptoms of panic attack and heart attack, making it very challenging to discern between the two without a physician assessment and testing, such as an EKG.
Common symptoms that may affect patients with either a panic or heart attack include chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, passing out, tingling, or a sensation of impending doom.
These shared symptoms of heart and panic attack may also be caused by other serious conditions such as blood clots, lung infection or collapse, or tear in the large vessels of the chest for patients with certain pre-existing risk factors. So when in doubt, seek immediate medical attention …
The best predictor as to whether symptoms are due to panic versus heart attack is the patient’s age and previous history of panic attacks … Patients should immediately go to the ER if they have new onset chest pain (tightness, squeezing, heaviness), shortness of breath, sweating, lightheadedness, pain that radiates to the jaw or arm, or a ripping sensation in their chest or back.
Heart attacks tend to occur in middle-aged people and older age groups, so the older the person is, the lower a threshold they should have for coming to the ER right away.
Patients with pre-existing coronary artery disease and those with risk factors associated with coronary artery disease should also be evaluated immediately, including those with hypertension, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, or a history of smoking.”
Possible Connection Between Panic Disorder and CAD
It’s also worth getting your symptoms checked out even if you’re certain they’re due to a panic attack. Some research suggests there may in fact be a connection between panic disorder and coronary artery disease, although the exact relationship is still unclear. According to a 2008 review in The Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry:10
“There are several reasons to consider that a relationship between panic disorder and coronary artery disease (CAD) might exist. First, panic disorder has been linked to other forms of cardiac disease.
Second, the most likely source of the chest pain during panic attacks is ischemia. Finally, there is evidence that panic disorder may be associated with cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and smoking.
Panic disorder is associated with several cardiac abnormalities. In addition to patients with panic disorder having elevated standing heart rates, 10% have an arrhythmia.
Panic disorder is associated with increased left ventricular mass and diameter, and patients with panic disorder have poorer cardiovascular fitness as demonstrated by lower maximum oxygen consumption and decreased exercise tolerance …
Case reports have linked panic disorder to a descending aortic aneurysm and pulmonary hypertension secondary to an atrial septal defect with pulmonic valve disease. However, the strongest association is between panic disorder and mitral valve prolapse (MVP) … but MVP is not likely to be the source of chest pain.
In addition, the significance of the panic-MVP relationship is unclear … Indirect linkages via autonomic vulnerability or dysfunction have … been proposed. However, the most likely explanation is that the decreased left ventricular volume due to the tachycardia seen in panic disorder produces the MVP.”
The review11 cites evidence suggesting ischemia is the cause of the chest pain felt during a panic attack, and researchers have found there’s an association between panic attacks and ischemic and nonischemic chest pain alike. According to the authors, “Myocardial ischemia could cause panic attacks via increased catecholamines or cerebral carbon dioxide levels secondary to lactate.”
What’s more, when looking at a large managed care database, researchers found an association between panic disorder and coronary heart disease and this association remained even after controlling for covariates.12
Overall, patients with panic disorder were between 80% and 91% more likely to also have coronary heart disease. Patients diagnosed with both panic disorder and depression were, on average, 260% more likely to develop coronary heart disease than patients without those mental health problems.13
On the flip side, research14 published in 2017 also points out that “Anxiety and its associated disorders are common in patients with cardiovascular disease and may significantly influence cardiac health.” According to this paper:
“Both physiologic (autonomic dysfunction, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, changes in platelet aggregation) and health behavior mechanisms may help to explain the relationships between anxiety disorders and cardiovascular disease.”
Many Women Mistake Heart Attack Symptoms for Anxiety
It’s also important to realize that the symptoms of heart attack can vary from person to person and some may have very few symptoms, especially women.15 Importantly, research16,17 shows women are less likely to report chest pain when having a heart attack.
They’re also less likely to suspect their discomfort is related to a heart problem. Compared to just 11.8% of men, 20.9% of women attributed their chest pain to stress or anxiety. Women also tend to describe their pain differently. They’re more likely to use terms such as “pressure,” “tightness” or “discomfort” in the chest rather than referring to it as “chest pain.” Fat for Fuel: A Revolu... Dr. Joseph Mercola Best Price: $7.40 Buy New $11.89 (as of 10:20 UTC - Details)
Doctors are also more likely to dismiss women’s complaints of chest pain as being noncardiac in nature. Overall, 53% of female heart attack patients reported that their doctor did not think their symptoms were heart-related, compared to 37% of male heart attack patients.
Approximately 29.5% of women had actually sought medical help before being hospitalized with a heart attack, compared to just 22.1% of men. What these findings suggest is that women and their doctors tend to misdiagnose or dismiss symptoms of heart attack, placing women at a higher risk of death than men. As noted by the authors:18
“The presentation of AMI [acute myocardial infarction] symptoms was similar for young women and men, with chest pain as the predominant symptom for both sexes.
Women presented with a greater number of additional non-chest pain symptoms regardless of the presence of chest pain, and both women and their health care providers were less likely to attribute their prodromal symptoms to heart disease in comparison with men.”
Unfortunately, the absence of chest discomfort is a strong predictor of diagnosis and treatment delays.19 For this reason, it’s important to remember there are many other symptoms that might indicate a heart attack in progress, including the following:20
Breathe Right to Quell Panic Attacks
When it comes to panic attacks, familiarizing yourself with the function of your fight-or-flight response can be helpful to guide you toward self-help strategies that work for your unique situation.
For example, contrary to popular belief, taking deep breaths can actually worsen a panic attack, as explained by Buteyko Breathing expert Patrick McKeown. A breathing exercise that can help quell anxiety and panic attacks is summarized below.
This sequence helps retain and gently accumulate carbon dioxide (CO2), leading to calmer breathing and reduced anxiety. In other words, the urge to breathe will decline as you go into a more relaxed state.
Take a small breath into your nose, a small breath out; hold your nose for five seconds in order to hold your breath, and then release to resume breathing.
Breathe normally for 10 seconds.
Repeat the sequence several more times: small breath in through your nose, small breath out; hold your breath for five seconds, then let go and breathe normally for 10 seconds.
McKeown has also written a book specifically aimed at the treatment of anxiety through optimal breathing, called “Anxiety Free: Stop Worrying and Quieten Your Mind — Featuring the Buteyko Breathing Method and Mindfulness,” which can be found on Amazon.com.21
In addition to the book, ButeykoClinic.com also offers a one-hour online course and an audio version of the book, along with several free chapters22 and accompanying videos.23
EFT — A Long-Term Solution to Anxiety

Energy psychology techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can also be very effective for anxiety and panic attacks.24,25,26 EFT is akin to acupuncture, which is based on the concept that a vital energy flows through your body along invisible pathways known as meridians.
EFT stimulates different energy meridian points in your body by tapping them with your fingertips, while simultaneously using custom-made verbal affirmations. This can be done alone or under the supervision of a qualified therapist. By doing so, you reprogram the way your body responds to emotional stressors. KetoFast: Rejuvenate Y... Mercola, Dr. Joseph Check Amazon for Pricing.
EFT is particularly powerful for treating stress and anxiety because it specifically targets your amygdala and hippocampus, which are the parts of your brain that help you decide whether or not something is a threat.27 EFT has also been scientifically shown to lower cortisol levels,28 which are elevated when you’re stressed or anxious.
In the video above, EFT therapist Julie Schiffman demonstrates how to tap for panic attacks. Please keep in mind that while anyone can learn to do EFT at home, self-treatment for serious issues like persistent anxiety is not recommended. For serious or complex issues, you need someone to guide you through the process. That said, the more you tap, the more skilled you’ll become.
Heart Attack Prevention
As for heart attacks, your best course of action is to take proactive measures to prevent them. According to a 2015 study, more than 70% of heart attacks could be prevented by implementing:29
A healthy diet
Normal body mass index
Getting at least 2.5 hours of exercise each week and watching television seven or fewer hours per week
Avoiding smoking
Limiting alcohol to one drink or less per day
To this I would add maintaining a healthy iron level is important for your heart, as various studies show that both iron deficiency and iron overload30 can be a significant risk factor for heart attack.
For example, a Scandinavian study31 found elevated ferritin levels raised men’s risk of heart attack two- to threefold. Another32 found elevated ferritin raised the risk of a fatal heart attack by 218% in men, while women with high levels were 5.53 times more likely to have a fatal heart attack.
As discussed in “Why Hard Water Decreases Heart Attacks,” magnesium insufficiency has also been implicated in heart attacks, so you want to make sure you’re getting enough magnesium from your diet and/or supplements. In “Could You Have a Heart Attack and Not Know It?” I also review some of the underlying issues that cause heart attacks, and additional steps you can take to lower your risk.
Sources and References
The Best of Dr. Joseph Mercola


Hans-Hermann Hoppe

[ This interview with Jeff Deist and Hans Hoppe will appear in the upcoming issue of The Austrian ( March–April 2020 ) . ]
JEFF DEIST : Your recent talk in Vienna mentioned growing up happy but poor , the son of East German parents who had been driven west during the Cold War by the Soviets .
Can you elaborate on the lasting impact their experience had on you , in terms of how you view state power and its attendant evils ?
Are you in some ways still influenced by their “ eastern ” roots ?
HANS-HERMANN HOPPE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both refugees , ending up in the West by the accident of WWII , driven away and separated from their original homes in Soviet-occupied East Germany , played a huge role in our family life .
In particular the expropriation of my mother ’ s family and its expulsion from house and home by the Soviets , in 1946 , as so-called East Elbean Junkers , was a constantly recurring topic at home and assumed even more importance after the collapse , in 1989 , of East Germany and the following German “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other victims of communist expropriations , then sought and hoped for the restitution of her property—in which case I would have been set for life .
However , as I already knew and correctly predicted by then , this was not going to happen .
There was to be no justice .
But my parents were shocked and outraged .
The numerous trips we took to visit various relatives in East Germany confirmed my parents ’ judgment of the Soviet system .
Shortages , waiting lines , empty stores , inferior products , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , spies , and informants .
Everywhere grey ugliness and decay .
A prison wall built around the whole country to prevent anyone from escaping .
And commie-proles droning on endlessly about the great successes achieved under their leadership .
Democracy - The God Th ... Hans-Hermann Hoppe Check Amazon for Pricing .
Yet as a little boy and a teenager I did not understand the reason for all this mischief and misery .
Indeed , the East German experience did little if anything to shake my own leftist convictions at the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was just the wrong type of socialism , with the wrong people at the helm .
Apart from their anticommunism , my parents , as most people of their generation , were highly guarded or even timid regarding political pronouncements .
Germany had lost a devastating war , and the German population was subjected to a systematic , American-led reeducation campaign , a Charakterwaesche ( character-wash ) , as I was to realize only many years later , of truly enormous proportions , which involved a complete rewriting of history from the victor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as congenital villains .
This made it all the more difficult to finally discover the fundamental importance of private property rights and the evil of statism and so-called public property .
As far as any genuine “ eastern ” influences are concerned , I am skeptical .
Far more important in any case was the fact that my parents were impoverished refugees who eagerly wanted to recover from their losses , get ahead in life , and instill their own will to succeed also in their children .
( In fact , empirical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professional success of refugee children as compared to their nonrefugee peers . )
However , in the German context you may count my Protestant—Lutheran—upbringing and the character traits typically associated with it , i.e.
, the “ Protestant ethic , ” as described by Max Weber , as somehow eastern .
JD : You also mentioned your time at university , studying philosophy under the direction of left-wing critical theorist Jürgen Habermas .
Although your political philosophy differs radically from his , discuss his influence on you and your development of “ Austrian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a malign figure , or can we learn from him ?
HH : Looking back , I can certainly say that Habermas has been a largely malign figure .
He became Germany ’ s most famous and influential intellectual , and as such played an important role in Germany ’ s gradual but steady move leftward , both economically and culturally .
Indeed , he can be regarded as the high priest of historical and political correctness , of social democracy , and of political centralization .
Nonetheless , my relationship with Habermas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and I learned quite a bit from him , especially from his earlier works such as Erkenntnis und Interesse ( Knowledge and Interest ) .
( Since the late 1970s I essentially stopped following his work , as it was increasingly tedious and murky . )
In any case , it was Habermas who introduced me to the Anglo-Saxon tradition of analytic philosophy and the philosophy of language .
He helped me understand “ methodological dualism , ” i.e.
, that the study of objects with which we can communicate ( and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those appropriate for the study of noncommunicative objects ( and instrumental action ) .
And contra all empiricist and relativist claims , Habermas always defended the notion of some sort of synthetic a priori truths .
As far as my work on class analysis and the theory of history is concerned , however , it owes nothing to Habermas , who had actually little interest in economics and political economy , but instead to my earlier study of Marx .
I wrote the original paper on the subject for a Mises Institute conference @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show how , by only substituting State for Business Firms and Taxes for Wages , Marx ’ s exploitation theory and his theory of history would make perfect sense .
JD : Your speech titled “ Coming of Age with Murray ” in New York City two years ago reveals much about your personal relationship with the late Murray N. Rothbard .
In fact you moved to New York primarily to work with him .
Looking back , are you glad to have left Germany for America ?
Would your career and work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a European university ?
HH : Oh yes , that move was about the best and most important decision I ever made .
Given my views at the time , i.e.
, my Misesian-Rothbardian outlook , an academic career in Germany , even if not entirely impossible , would have been extremely difficult , even with stellar academic credentials .
I might have become depressed and given up .
Certainly , without constant encouragement such as I would receive from Rothbard in America , I would have written less and then mostly in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ read .
In the meantime , thanks to the growing influence and worldwide internet presence of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn , the situation has significantly changed .
It is still difficult , but nowadays you can also have a successful academic career in Europe even as an Austrian ( but you will have to write in English ) .
JD : Rothbard remains relevant and controversial today .
Why is he so consistently misunderstood ?
Given your long history with him , both in New York and at UNLV , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Was he warm and convivial as his supporters contend , or acerbic and mercurial as per his detractors ?
Does his work in social theory overshadow his work as an economist ?
HH : Rothbard was a genius of the first order .
He ranks among the greatest economists , but he was not and did not want to be a mere economist-economist .
He was also a great philosopher , sociologist , and historian , and as such became the creator of a grand , integrated intellectual system .
Anyone familiar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only stand in awe before his achievement .
But there also lies the problem .
The sheer volume and the interdisciplinary character of Rothbard ’ s work makes it difficult for anyone but the most dedicated and talented student to give a full and fair account of his work .
Moreover , especially economics , the centerpiece of Rothbard ’ s system , is a rather dry , technical field with very limited sex appeal .
Much easier , then , for the envious , lazy , and talentless to engage in nit-picking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about Rothbard ’ s scholarly work at all , but reduce him to the libertarian activist ( that he also was , if only in his spare time and for his own amusement ) .
As far as Rothbard the man is concerned there is something to both seemingly contradictory statements about his personality .
You certainly did not want to become the target of one of Rothbard ’ s many written missives .
As a writer , Rothbard could be merciless and devastating , ready to go in for the argumentative kill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a person , in social gatherings , he was a softy : warm , convivial , charming , and entertaining JD : Rothbard frequently defended you and your work , charging critics with “ Hoppephobia.
” What did this mean to you as a young scholar ?
Why does loyalty and gratitude seem so scarce in academia generally , and in libertarian circles ?
HH : If you write and take a clear and unambiguous stand on highly contentious issues , you should expect some heat .
Otherwise , if you don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the kitchen .
Given what I wrote or said in public ( or the way I said or wrote it ) , I knew that I would be a controversial figure ; and as a young man I took a good deal of delight from provocation and vigorous intellectual debate .
Nonetheless , I had no idea how downright personal , nasty , and even defamatory and libelous some critics and criticisms could get .
In such situations , then , Rothbard ’ s coming forward in my defense was a welcome @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of confidence .
After some years in academia , however , I developed quite a thick skin and learned that many a critic and criticism were not worth my attention and best ignored .
As for loyalty and gratitude , it is necessary that a person recognizes and admits that he owes something to another person ; that this other person has done something of value for him that deserves to be acknowledged .
I tend to agree with your assessment of academia and certain libertarian circles as ranking rather low in this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suspect the prevalence of egalitarian ideas to be responsible for this outcome .
The typical or “ modal ” libertarian , as described by Rothbard , is an egalitarian , respect-no-authority guy , with little knowledge of history and world affairs .
He fancies himself to have come up with everything he has and knows on his own , as a self-made man , and as such thinks that he owes no one any gratitude or special respect .
The egalitarianism of academia , or more precisely that part of it that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rather than doing , such as engineering , for instance ) , is of a different kind .
Let ’ s call this group the intellectuals .
Intellectuals generally suffer from an inflated ego .
They consider intellectual work and hence themselves as more important than mundane or manual work and workers .
In their eyes , then , the fact that they are all subsidized today and kept financially afloat by nonintellectuals is only how things should be anyhow .
No need to be thankful for what is self-understood , as far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regard , intellectuals are elitists .
Vis-à-vis each other , however , they are typically egalitarians .
They all equally write and speak , and who is to say that this writing is better or more original than that .
True enough , their salaries and their standing in academia may be quite different .
However , such differences are solely the result of bureaucratic procedures and criteria that have nothing to do with truth or beauty .
Nor does popularity matter as far as truth and beauty are concerned .
No need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ever feel less of an intellectual than anyone else .
JD : You mention sharing with Rothbard a profound interest in religion and the sociology of various faiths despite being an agnostic .
Have you changed your perspective on Christianity and its influence on the West ?
Is the post-Christian West going to be a nasty and tribal place , contra the assurances of secularists ?
HH : Whether you are a believer or not , there is no way of denying that religion has played a hugely important role in human history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ i.e.
, the part of the world shaped by Latin Christendom in particular , that has surpassed all other world regions both in terms of its material as well as its cultural achievements , and that among its superior cultural achievements in particular is also the idea of natural human rights and human freedom .
The Christian notion that each person is created in the image of God contributed to the uniquely Western tradition of individualism and was instrumental in abolishing , at long last , the institution of slavery within the Christian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on outside the West , even until today ) .
And the institutional separation and jealous competition for social recognition and authority in the West between the Christian church and its hierarchy of popes , cardinals , bishops , and priests , on the one hand , and all worldly power with its hierarchy of emperors , kings , nobles , and heads of households on the other contributed greatly to the uniquely Western tradition of limited ( as opposed to absolutist ) government .
A Short History of Man ... Hans-Hermann Hoppe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 1.99 This happy , power-limiting arrangement began to crumble already in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation following .
Today , the various Christian churches are essentially appendices of the state .
As such they promote even the mass importation of people of rival faiths into formerly Christian lands , thus further undermining whatever authority they may still possess in public opinion and strengthening at the same time the power of the all-secular , post-Christian state .
JD : Democracy : The God That Failed remains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Nearly twenty years later , give us your thoughts on the book ’ s legacy .
Are you happy with its notoriety and impact , or do you wish your work on socialism , property , and ethics was better appreciated ?
HH : Indeed , of all of my major writings Democracy has been the bestseller , and it is no exaggeration to say that the book in the meantime has exerted some notable influence in helping desanctify the institution of democracy ( majority rule ) in public opinion .
Naturally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The book has a certain “ sex appeal , ” if you will .
It is interdisciplinary and not too technical , and it offers some new , original , and provocative theoretical theses and insights , combined with alternative , revisionist historical vistas and perspectives .
It may be the only major work of mine a person reads and associates with my name .
But then , I always hope , there may also be other people to whom it opens the door to some other , possibly more important if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ JD : Both your fans and critics seized on a passage in Democracy arguing that individuals with goals and lifestyles at odds with a libertarian social order would be “ physically removed ” from that community .
Since then you have clarified how this phrase functions as an adjective , not a verb .
In other words , people at odds with the agreed-upon terms of a private community simply should live elsewhere , just as one town is physically separate from a nearby town .
What are your thoughts about the controversy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to your earlier question concerning Hoppephobia .
The whole affair , most likely initiated by one of the usual left-libertarian suspects from the DC beltway , was a deliberate attempt to smear and malign me personally and with that also the program of a realistic or right-libertarianism first outlined in the book .
Essentially , I did not say anything more controversial or scandalous in the short passage than that anyone insisting on wearing a bathing suit on a nude beach may be expelled from this beach ( but be free to look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anyone insisting on nudity may be expelled from a formal dinner party ( but be free to look for another party ) .
In my example , however , it was not nudes but homosexuals that figured .
I wrote that in a covenant established for the purpose of protecting family and kin , people openly displaying and habitually promoting homosexuality may be expelled and compelled to look for another place to live .
But in some “ woke ” circles , mentioning homosexuality and expulsion in one and the same sentence apparently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all reading comprehension .
Ultimately , the entire smear campaign failed and even backfired , only increasing my own popularity and the influence of the book .
JD : At your Property and Freedom conference in Turkey you have spoken on the process of “ de-civilization , ” whereby positive law overtakes natural law under the domination of a monopolized state actor .
Property rights and adjudication of conflicts fall under the grasp of this monopoly power .
We like your conception of the opposite : a social order emerging from “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a private-law society—entirely voluntary—more in harmony with simple natural order .
It sounds better and more reasonable than anarchism to ordinary people !
Are anarcho-capitalism and resulting private “ covenant communities ” actually far less radical than commonly thought ?
Are they in fact outgrowths of natural law concepts that many people already accept ?
HH : Indeed , yes , and yes again .
Even if it appears to be little more than a shift in semantics , for the reasons you mention I have long preferred the terms “ private-law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to “ anarcho-capitalism.
” Because everyone is familiar with the basics of private law .
From our everyday lives , we know what property is and implies and how it is acquired and transferred ( and how not ) .
As well , we know what an exchange , an agreement , and a contract are ( and what is not to count as such ) .
There is nothing difficult or especially demanding about the natural law of property and contract .
Indeed , in many small villages people live by these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of any outside government police or judge .
There is self-policing .
Yet whoever polices is subject to the same rules as everyone else .
And if need be , in the case of conflict , there is self-arbitration and self-adjudication .
But whoever acts as judge or arbiter , too , is subject to natural private law .
The emergence of a natural order ruled by private law , then , is not difficult to explain .
What is difficult to explain is the emergence of a state .
Why should there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ subject to private law ?
Why should there be someone who can make laws ?
Why should there be an institution that can exempt itself from the rules applied to everyone else ?
Why should there be some policemen who can not violate the law or some judges who can not break the law ?
Why , indeed , should there be any ultimate and final judge , exempt from any and all prosecution ?
Certainly , all of this can not be the result of an agreement or contract , because no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on to a contract which stipulated that in any conflict that might arise between you and me , you will always have the final word .
JD : Let ’ s turn to immigration .
You propose contractual admission of immigrants , with sponsors ( or immigrants themselves ) funding a bond or liability insurance to pay for any criminal or civil cost imposed on existing taxpayers .
Immigrants remain in their new home conditionally for an initial period , subject to revocation of admission for contractual violations .
They do not receive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights come much later .
You refer to this system as satisfying the “ full cost principle.
” In many ways this is far more “ open ” than open borders proposals , because it requires no checkpoints or intake centers or vast border police agencies .
It uses contracts and market forces to shape immigration , rather than political machinations .
This seems far more humane and practical , yet you are assailed as anti-immigration .
What explains this ?
HH : As already touched upon , in some circles the mere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time “ immigration ” and “ restriction ” —is sufficient to trigger a blank-out .
No need to read any further and try to comprehend .
First homophobe , then xenophobe .
In fact , I have never met a serious advocate of “ no immigration , period !
” Nor have I ever taken a stand that could be described as anti-immigration .
Instead I have always argued for the commonsensical approach of selective immigration .
Ideally , with all pieces of land and everything on them privately owned , there would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , i.e.
, of degrees , respectively , of openness and closedness .
I have described this , for instance , in my piece “ Natural Order , the State , and the Immigration Problem.
” Airports , roads , shopping malls , hotels , etc.
, would be rather open , whereas residential associations , private retreats , clubs , etc.
, might be almost completely closed .
In any case , however , all migration would be by invitation and invariably the full cost principle would apply .
Either the inviting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jointly would have to pay the full cost associated with the guest ’ s presence .
No cost could be shifted and externalized onto third parties , and the inviter and/or invitee would be held liable for any and all damage resulting from the invitation to the property of others .
If and as long as there is a state with so-called public property in place , as happens to be the case in today ’ s world , then the best one may hope for is an immigration policy that tries to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You have mentioned some possible measures in this regard .
But to advocate , under current conditions , the adoption of a “ free immigration ” policy—every foreigner can come in and move and stay around the entire country , no questions asked—is certainly no way to achieve this goal .
To the contrary , it would make forced integration and cost-shifting ubiquitous , and quickly end in disaster .
Only people devoid of all common sense could possibly advocate any such policy .
JD : In your exchanges with Walter Block @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government property ought to be subject to open homesteading by immigrants .
Your response is often characterized as “ taxpayers should own taxpayer-funded public goods.
” But in fact your argument applies only in the context of Block ’ s argument , to disprove the notion that public property should be viewed as “ unowned.
” If we must have public property , state agents at least ought to act as trustees of that property on behalf of the taxpayers who fund it .
Accurate ?
HH : Accurate .
Let me only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sometimes mentioned “ wilderness ” of mountaintops , swamps , tundra , etc.
, is no longer truly wild and thus ready to be homesteaded .
There is no inch left on earth today that is not claimed to be the “ property ” of some government .
Whatever wilderness there is , then , it is wilderness that has been barred and prevented by some government , i.e.
, with taxpayer funds , from being homesteaded by private parties ( most likely by neighboring property owners ) .
If anyone , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legitimate owners of such wilderness .
And quite apart from this , even if some wilderness were opened for homesteading , it would be neighboring , domestic residents , who had been most immediately and directly barred from doing so before , who should have the first shot at homesteading , well before any distant foreigner .
JD : Hoppean argumentation ethics remains a subject of rigorous debate , most recently between ( economist ) Robert Murphy and ( legal theorist ) Stephan Kinsella .
How important is a purely logical justification for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s normative natural law arguments or Mises ’ s utilitarianism ?
Is the shared human experience of physical personhood the best starting point for arguments against the initiation of violence , i.e.
, arguments against the state ?
HH : There are some questions that can be answered definitively by the performance of a simple experiment .
For many others that is not possible .
Sometimes we are satisfied with answers that sound plausible or appear convincing on intuitive grounds .
But to the curious mind , some questions are of such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than just plausibility or intuition .
Transcendental arguments are designed to satisfy this desire for more , i.e.
, for logical certainty or ultimate justification .
They are answers to the skeptic who denies that there is any such thing as ultimate justification and a priori truths .
They try to establish , by means of self-reflection , what the skeptic must already presuppose as given and true simply in order to be the skeptic that he is , i.e.
, to make his skepticism possible .
One has reached certainty about something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that even a skeptic must admit to it , if only in order to meaningfully express his very own doubt .
The ethics of argumentation is the answer to the ethical relativist , i.e.
, to any one person claiming—as a proponent vis-à-vis an opponent in argumentation—that there is no such thing as a rational or objective ethics .
In response to the relativist proponent it is essentially pointed out that by virtue of his own engagement in argumentation he has already effectively rejected his own thesis , because argumentation is an activity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interaction between a proponent and an opponent with the specific purpose of clarifying and possibly coming to a mutual agreement concerning some rival truth claims .
As such , it presupposes the acceptance as valid of such norms or rules of human conduct as make argumentation itself possible .
And it is impossible , then , to argue against and deny the validity of such norms without thereby running into a performative or dialectic contradiction .
The praxeological presuppositions of argumentation , then , are twofold—and we all know them from personal experience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ requirements of peace and peaceful interactions : first , each person is entitled to exclusive control or ownership of his physical body ( that he and only he can control directly , at will ) so as to act independently of others and come to a conclusion on his own .
And secondly , for the same reason of mutually independent standing or autonomy , both proponent and opponent must be entitled to their respective prior possessions , i.e.
, the exclusive control of all other , external means of action appropriated indirectly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one another .
Rothbard immediately accepted my proof .
In fact , he hailed it as a major breakthrough .
As for the various criticisms I have encountered , I have not been impressed , to put it mildly .
JD : Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the future of the West ?
Do you think sclerotic , bureaucratic states will yield to happier and more decentralized political arrangements ?
Or do you think Washington , DC , Brussels , et al .
will repeat the terrible mistakes of the twentieth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ central banking , and political globalism ?
HH : In the short and medium run , I am pessimistic .
True , our living standards have gone up and technological progress allows us to do things not long ago thought impossible , but at the same time the coercive powers of the state have continuously expanded , and private property rights and personal freedom have been correspondingly diminished .
The process of political and monetary centralization has proceeded unabated .
Central banks create more money and credit out of thin air than ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risen to exorbitant heights , so as to make some future default a virtual certainty .
All the while taxes and regulations have brought economic growth to a standstill .
It is clear , then , that a severe economic meltdown is in the making .
A Theory of Socialism ... Hans-Hermann Hoppe Best Price : $ 1.99 Buy New $ 10.70 At the same time , throughout most Western countries the populations have been thoroughly dehomogenized by immigration policies favoring multiculturalism .
And migration into the West by non-Westerners has been massively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endless US wars and military adventures in the Middle East and elsewhere .
Most Western countries now contain within their own native cultures large pockets and clusters of people of not just different , but rival and even hostile cultures .
Combined with a major economic crisis , this makes for an explosive mixture , the ingredients of a civil war .
It is amazing how the ruling elites have so far managed to keep the show running .
But there can be no doubt that the day of reckoning must eventually come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two likely scenarios of how to escape the danger of civil war .
The first one is the strong man variant , an authoritarian regime that tries to hold all things together by means of centralized , dictatorial powers .
And the second variant is that of decentralization : of secession , separation , and disaggregation so as to approach the ideal of a natural order .
Naturally , the second variant is the one favored by libertarians ( and recommended by Mises ) .
Yet to make this variant win , libertarians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public must be educated about the economic and social advantages of small , competing political units , and it is necessary to find and nurture potential charismatic leaders for the various decentralist and secessionist causes .
JD : Finally , how does living in Turkey affect your perspective ?
Are old notions of East and West breaking down , and should we consider looking East for allies in the fight for civilization and property ?
HH : As mentioned before and emphasized also by Mises , the idea of liberty is originally a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ males , and although it has lost some strength there , it is still most prominent and widespread in the West .
That does not mean that it is restricted to the West or only accessible to Western minds , however .
If there is anything I have learned from living in various countries and from my many travels , it is that there exists far more sociocultural variety and variance on earth than the typical Westerner might imagine : not just the variety of different countries , but even more so the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Almost everywhere you can find a few libertarians or classical liberals , and you should look out for them wherever they are , of course .
But just as we must learn in our private dealings with other individuals how to distinguish between potential converts on the one hand and hopeless cases on the other , so as not to waste our time and effort to no end , so , and for the same reason , we must also learn in our search for allies how to distinguish between hopeful , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , regions , and localities .
And we must realistically recognize that different places offer hugely different and unequal prospects and potential in this regard .
Note : The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute .
The Best of Hans-Hermann Hoppe

[This interview with Jeff Deist and Hans Hoppe will appear in the upcoming issue of The Austrian (March–April 2020).]
JEFF DEIST: Your recent talk in Vienna mentioned growing up happy but poor, the son of East German parents who had been driven west during the Cold War by the Soviets. Can you elaborate on the lasting impact their experience had on you, in terms of how you view state power and its attendant evils? Are you in some ways still influenced by their “eastern” roots?
HANS-HERMANN HOPPE: The fact that my parents were both refugees, ending up in the West by the accident of WWII, driven away and separated from their original homes in Soviet-occupied East Germany, played a huge role in our family life. In particular the expropriation of my mother’s family and its expulsion from house and home by the Soviets, in 1946, as so-called East Elbean Junkers, was a constantly recurring topic at home and assumed even more importance after the collapse, in 1989, of East Germany and the following German “reunification.” My mother, as many other victims of communist expropriations, then sought and hoped for the restitution of her property—in which case I would have been set for life. However, as I already knew and correctly predicted by then, this was not going to happen. There was to be no justice. But my parents were shocked and outraged.
The numerous trips we took to visit various relatives in East Germany confirmed my parents’ judgment of the Soviet system. Shortages, waiting lines, empty stores, inferior products, and lousy services. All around controls, spies, and informants. Everywhere grey ugliness and decay. A prison wall built around the whole country to prevent anyone from escaping. And commie-proles droning on endlessly about the great successes achieved under their leadership. Democracy u2013 The Go... Hoppe, Hans-Hermann Buy New $41.79 (as of 04:05 UTC - Details)
Yet as a little boy and a teenager I did not understand the reason for all this mischief and misery. Indeed, the East German experience did little if anything to shake my own leftist convictions at the time. East Germany, I thought, was just the wrong type of socialism, with the wrong people at the helm.
Apart from their anticommunism, my parents, as most people of their generation, were highly guarded or even timid regarding political pronouncements. Germany had lost a devastating war, and the German population was subjected to a systematic, American-led reeducation campaign, a Charakterwaesche (character-wash), as I was to realize only many years later, of truly enormous proportions, which involved a complete rewriting of history from the victor’s viewpoint, essentially portraying Germans as congenital villains. This made it all the more difficult to finally discover the fundamental importance of private property rights and the evil of statism and so-called public property.
As far as any genuine “eastern” influences are concerned, I am skeptical. Far more important in any case was the fact that my parents were impoverished refugees who eagerly wanted to recover from their losses, get ahead in life, and instill their own will to succeed also in their children. (In fact, empirical studies later on demonstrated the comparatively greater professional success of refugee children as compared to their nonrefugee peers.) However, in the German context you may count my Protestant—Lutheran—upbringing and the character traits typically associated with it, i.e., the “Protestant ethic,” as described by Max Weber, as somehow eastern.
JD: You also mentioned your time at university, studying philosophy under the direction of left-wing critical theorist Jürgen Habermas. Although your political philosophy differs radically from his, discuss his influence on you and your development of “Austrian” class analysis. Is he purely a malign figure, or can we learn from him?
HH: Looking back, I can certainly say that Habermas has been a largely malign figure. He became Germany’s most famous and influential intellectual, and as such played an important role in Germany’s gradual but steady move leftward, both economically and culturally. Indeed, he can be regarded as the high priest of historical and political correctness, of social democracy, and of political centralization.
Nonetheless, my relationship with Habermas, while not close, was cordial, and I learned quite a bit from him, especially from his earlier works such as Erkenntnis und Interesse (Knowledge and Interest). (Since the late 1970s I essentially stopped following his work, as it was increasingly tedious and murky.) In any case, it was Habermas who introduced me to the Anglo-Saxon tradition of analytic philosophy and the philosophy of language. He helped me understand “methodological dualism,” i.e., that the study of objects with which we can communicate (and communicative action) requires different methods than those appropriate for the study of noncommunicative objects (and instrumental action). And contra all empiricist and relativist claims, Habermas always defended the notion of some sort of synthetic a priori truths.
As far as my work on class analysis and the theory of history is concerned, however, it owes nothing to Habermas, who had actually little interest in economics and political economy, but instead to my earlier study of Marx. I wrote the original paper on the subject for a Mises Institute conference on Marx, and I tried to show how, by only substituting State for Business Firms and Taxes for Wages, Marx’s exploitation theory and his theory of history would make perfect sense.
JD: Your speech titled “Coming of Age with Murray” in New York City two years ago reveals much about your personal relationship with the late Murray N. Rothbard. In fact you moved to New York primarily to work with him. Looking back, are you glad to have left Germany for America? Would your career and work look very different had you remained at a European university?
HH: Oh yes, that move was about the best and most important decision I ever made. Given my views at the time, i.e., my Misesian-Rothbardian outlook, an academic career in Germany, even if not entirely impossible, would have been extremely difficult, even with stellar academic credentials. I might have become depressed and given up. Certainly, without constant encouragement such as I would receive from Rothbard in America, I would have written less and then mostly in German, which no one but Germans read.
In the meantime, thanks to the growing influence and worldwide internet presence of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, the situation has significantly changed. It is still difficult, but nowadays you can also have a successful academic career in Europe even as an Austrian (but you will have to write in English).
JD: Rothbard remains relevant and controversial today. Why is he so consistently misunderstood? Given your long history with him, both in New York and at UNLV, what do his critics fail to grasp? Was he warm and convivial as his supporters contend, or acerbic and mercurial as per his detractors? Does his work in social theory overshadow his work as an economist?
HH: Rothbard was a genius of the first order. He ranks among the greatest economists, but he was not and did not want to be a mere economist-economist. He was also a great philosopher, sociologist, and historian, and as such became the creator of a grand, integrated intellectual system. Anyone familiar with Rothbard’s entire oeuvre can only stand in awe before his achievement. But there also lies the problem. The sheer volume and the interdisciplinary character of Rothbard’s work makes it difficult for anyone but the most dedicated and talented student to give a full and fair account of his work. Moreover, especially economics, the centerpiece of Rothbard’s system, is a rather dry, technical field with very limited sex appeal. Much easier, then, for the envious, lazy, and talentless to engage in nit-picking. And easier still not to talk about Rothbard’s scholarly work at all, but reduce him to the libertarian activist (that he also was, if only in his spare time and for his own amusement).
As far as Rothbard the man is concerned there is something to both seemingly contradictory statements about his personality. You certainly did not want to become the target of one of Rothbard’s many written missives. As a writer, Rothbard could be merciless and devastating, ready to go in for the argumentative kill. On the other hand, as a person, in social gatherings, he was a softy: warm, convivial, charming, and entertaining
JD: Rothbard frequently defended you and your work, charging critics with “Hoppephobia.” What did this mean to you as a young scholar? Why does loyalty and gratitude seem so scarce in academia generally, and in libertarian circles?
HH: If you write and take a clear and unambiguous stand on highly contentious issues, you should expect some heat. Otherwise, if you don’t like the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Given what I wrote or said in public (or the way I said or wrote it), I knew that I would be a controversial figure; and as a young man I took a good deal of delight from provocation and vigorous intellectual debate. Nonetheless, I had no idea how downright personal, nasty, and even defamatory and libelous some critics and criticisms could get. In such situations, then, Rothbard’s coming forward in my defense was a welcome relief and gave me a great boost of confidence. After some years in academia, however, I developed quite a thick skin and learned that many a critic and criticism were not worth my attention and best ignored.
As for loyalty and gratitude, it is necessary that a person recognizes and admits that he owes something to another person; that this other person has done something of value for him that deserves to be acknowledged. I tend to agree with your assessment of academia and certain libertarian circles as ranking rather low in this regard. And in both cases I suspect the prevalence of egalitarian ideas to be responsible for this outcome. The typical or “modal” libertarian, as described by Rothbard, is an egalitarian, respect-no-authority guy, with little knowledge of history and world affairs. He fancies himself to have come up with everything he has and knows on his own, as a self-made man, and as such thinks that he owes no one any gratitude or special respect.
The egalitarianism of academia, or more precisely that part of it that is principally concerned with writing and speaking (rather than doing, such as engineering, for instance), is of a different kind. Let’s call this group the intellectuals. Intellectuals generally suffer from an inflated ego. They consider intellectual work and hence themselves as more important than mundane or manual work and workers. In their eyes, then, the fact that they are all subsidized today and kept financially afloat by nonintellectuals is only how things should be anyhow. No need to be thankful for what is self-understood, as far as they are concerned. In this regard, intellectuals are elitists. Vis-à-vis each other, however, they are typically egalitarians. They all equally write and speak, and who is to say that this writing is better or more original than that. True enough, their salaries and their standing in academia may be quite different. However, such differences are solely the result of bureaucratic procedures and criteria that have nothing to do with truth or beauty. Nor does popularity matter as far as truth and beauty are concerned. No need, then, for an intellectual to ever feel less of an intellectual than anyone else.
JD: You mention sharing with Rothbard a profound interest in religion and the sociology of various faiths despite being an agnostic. Have you changed your perspective on Christianity and its influence on the West? Is the post-Christian West going to be a nasty and tribal place, contra the assurances of secularists?
HH: Whether you are a believer or not, there is no way of denying that religion has played a hugely important role in human history and that it is the West, i.e., the part of the world shaped by Latin Christendom in particular, that has surpassed all other world regions both in terms of its material as well as its cultural achievements, and that among its superior cultural achievements in particular is also the idea of natural human rights and human freedom. The Christian notion that each person is created in the image of God contributed to the uniquely Western tradition of individualism and was instrumental in abolishing, at long last, the institution of slavery within the Christian orbit (all the while it lingered on outside the West, even until today). And the institutional separation and jealous competition for social recognition and authority in the West between the Christian church and its hierarchy of popes, cardinals, bishops, and priests, on the one hand, and all worldly power with its hierarchy of emperors, kings, nobles, and heads of households on the other contributed greatly to the uniquely Western tradition of limited (as opposed to absolutist) government. A Short History of Man... Hoppe, Hans-Hermann Best Price: $5.95 Buy New $1.99 (as of 06:55 UTC - Details)
This happy, power-limiting arrangement began to crumble already in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation following. Today, the various Christian churches are essentially appendices of the state. As such they promote even the mass importation of people of rival faiths into formerly Christian lands, thus further undermining whatever authority they may still possess in public opinion and strengthening at the same time the power of the all-secular, post-Christian state.
JD: Democracy: The God That Failed remains perhaps your best-known and most controversial book. Nearly twenty years later, give us your thoughts on the book’s legacy. Are you happy with its notoriety and impact, or do you wish your work on socialism, property, and ethics was better appreciated?
HH: Indeed, of all of my major writings Democracy has been the bestseller, and it is no exaggeration to say that the book in the meantime has exerted some notable influence in helping desanctify the institution of democracy (majority rule) in public opinion. Naturally, I am quite happy about this. The book has a certain “sex appeal,” if you will. It is interdisciplinary and not too technical, and it offers some new, original, and provocative theoretical theses and insights, combined with alternative, revisionist historical vistas and perspectives. It may be the only major work of mine a person reads and associates with my name. But then, I always hope, there may also be other people to whom it opens the door to some other, possibly more important if less sexy, works of mine.
JD: Both your fans and critics seized on a passage in Democracy arguing that individuals with goals and lifestyles at odds with a libertarian social order would be “physically removed” from that community. Since then you have clarified how this phrase functions as an adjective, not a verb. In other words, people at odds with the agreed-upon terms of a private community simply should live elsewhere, just as one town is physically separate from a nearby town. What are your thoughts about the controversy today?
HH: This harks back to your earlier question concerning Hoppephobia. The whole affair, most likely initiated by one of the usual left-libertarian suspects from the DC beltway, was a deliberate attempt to smear and malign me personally and with that also the program of a realistic or right-libertarianism first outlined in the book.
Essentially, I did not say anything more controversial or scandalous in the short passage than that anyone insisting on wearing a bathing suit on a nude beach may be expelled from this beach (but be free to look for another one), just as anyone insisting on nudity may be expelled from a formal dinner party (but be free to look for another party). In my example, however, it was not nudes but homosexuals that figured. I wrote that in a covenant established for the purpose of protecting family and kin, people openly displaying and habitually promoting homosexuality may be expelled and compelled to look for another place to live. But in some “woke” circles, mentioning homosexuality and expulsion in one and the same sentence apparently leads to intellectual blank-out and a loss of all reading comprehension.
Ultimately, the entire smear campaign failed and even backfired, only increasing my own popularity and the influence of the book.
JD: At your Property and Freedom conference in Turkey you have spoken on the process of “de-civilization,” whereby positive law overtakes natural law under the domination of a monopolized state actor. Property rights and adjudication of conflicts fall under the grasp of this monopoly power. We like your conception of the opposite: a social order emerging from “justice principles,” taking the form of a private-law society—entirely voluntary—more in harmony with simple natural order. It sounds better and more reasonable than anarchism to ordinary people! Are anarcho-capitalism and resulting private “covenant communities” actually far less radical than commonly thought? Are they in fact outgrowths of natural law concepts that many people already accept?
HH: Indeed, yes, and yes again. Even if it appears to be little more than a shift in semantics, for the reasons you mention I have long preferred the terms “private-law society” and “natural order” to “anarcho-capitalism.” Because everyone is familiar with the basics of private law. From our everyday lives, we know what property is and implies and how it is acquired and transferred (and how not). As well, we know what an exchange, an agreement, and a contract are (and what is not to count as such). There is nothing difficult or especially demanding about the natural law of property and contract. Indeed, in many small villages people live by these laws, without the presence or pressure of any outside government police or judge. There is self-policing. Yet whoever polices is subject to the same rules as everyone else. And if need be, in the case of conflict, there is self-arbitration and self-adjudication. But whoever acts as judge or arbiter, too, is subject to natural private law.
The emergence of a natural order ruled by private law, then, is not difficult to explain. What is difficult to explain is the emergence of a state. Why should there be anyone, any institution, not subject to private law? Why should there be someone who can make laws? Why should there be an institution that can exempt itself from the rules applied to everyone else? Why should there be some policemen who cannot violate the law or some judges who cannot break the law? Why, indeed, should there be any ultimate and final judge, exempt from any and all prosecution? Certainly, all of this cannot be the result of an agreement or contract, because no one in his right mind would sign on to a contract which stipulated that in any conflict that might arise between you and me, you will always have the final word.
JD: Let’s turn to immigration. You propose contractual admission of immigrants, with sponsors (or immigrants themselves) funding a bond or liability insurance to pay for any criminal or civil cost imposed on existing taxpayers. Immigrants remain in their new home conditionally for an initial period, subject to revocation of admission for contractual violations. They do not receive “welfare”; citizenship and voting rights come much later. You refer to this system as satisfying the “full cost principle.” In many ways this is far more “open” than open borders proposals, because it requires no checkpoints or intake centers or vast border police agencies. It uses contracts and market forces to shape immigration, rather than political machinations. This seems far more humane and practical, yet you are assailed as anti-immigration. What explains this?
HH: As already touched upon, in some circles the mere mention of two words in one sentence—this time “immigration” and “restriction”—is sufficient to trigger a blank-out. No need to read any further and try to comprehend. First homophobe, then xenophobe. In fact, I have never met a serious advocate of “no immigration, period!” Nor have I ever taken a stand that could be described as anti-immigration. Instead I have always argued for the commonsensical approach of selective immigration.
Ideally, with all pieces of land and everything on them privately owned, there would be a huge variety of entrance requirements, i.e., of degrees, respectively, of openness and closedness. I have described this, for instance, in my piece “Natural Order, the State, and the Immigration Problem.” Airports, roads, shopping malls, hotels, etc., would be rather open, whereas residential associations, private retreats, clubs, etc., might be almost completely closed. In any case, however, all migration would be by invitation and invariably the full cost principle would apply. Either the inviting host or the invited guest or both jointly would have to pay the full cost associated with the guest’s presence. No cost could be shifted and externalized onto third parties, and the inviter and/or invitee would be held liable for any and all damage resulting from the invitation to the property of others.
If and as long as there is a state with so-called public property in place, as happens to be the case in today’s world, then the best one may hope for is an immigration policy that tries to approach this ideal of a natural order. You have mentioned some possible measures in this regard. But to advocate, under current conditions, the adoption of a “free immigration” policy—every foreigner can come in and move and stay around the entire country, no questions asked—is certainly no way to achieve this goal. To the contrary, it would make forced integration and cost-shifting ubiquitous, and quickly end in disaster. Only people devoid of all common sense could possibly advocate any such policy.
JD: In your exchanges with Walter Block about immigration, he argues that all government property ought to be subject to open homesteading by immigrants. Your response is often characterized as “taxpayers should own taxpayer-funded public goods.” But in fact your argument applies only in the context of Block’s argument, to disprove the notion that public property should be viewed as “unowned.” If we must have public property, state agents at least ought to act as trustees of that property on behalf of the taxpayers who fund it. Accurate?
HH: Accurate. Let me only add that in today’s world the sometimes mentioned “wilderness” of mountaintops, swamps, tundra, etc., is no longer truly wild and thus ready to be homesteaded. There is no inch left on earth today that is not claimed to be the “property” of some government. Whatever wilderness there is, then, it is wilderness that has been barred and prevented by some government, i.e., with taxpayer funds, from being homesteaded by private parties (most likely by neighboring property owners). If anyone, it is domestic taxpayers who are the legitimate owners of such wilderness.
And quite apart from this, even if some wilderness were opened for homesteading, it would be neighboring, domestic residents, who had been most immediately and directly barred from doing so before, who should have the first shot at homesteading, well before any distant foreigner.
JD: Hoppean argumentation ethics remains a subject of rigorous debate, most recently between (economist) Robert Murphy and (legal theorist) Stephan Kinsella. How important is a purely logical justification for human liberty, as opposed to Rothbard’s normative natural law arguments or Mises’s utilitarianism? Is the shared human experience of physical personhood the best starting point for arguments against the initiation of violence, i.e., arguments against the state?
HH: There are some questions that can be answered definitively by the performance of a simple experiment. For many others that is not possible. Sometimes we are satisfied with answers that sound plausible or appear convincing on intuitive grounds. But to the curious mind, some questions are of such great importance as to ask for more than just plausibility or intuition.
Transcendental arguments are designed to satisfy this desire for more, i.e., for logical certainty or ultimate justification. They are answers to the skeptic who denies that there is any such thing as ultimate justification and a priori truths. They try to establish, by means of self-reflection, what the skeptic must already presuppose as given and true simply in order to be the skeptic that he is, i.e., to make his skepticism possible. One has reached certainty about something, then, if one can show that even a skeptic must admit to it, if only in order to meaningfully express his very own doubt.
The ethics of argumentation is the answer to the ethical relativist, i.e., to any one person claiming—as a proponent vis-à-vis an opponent in argumentation—that there is no such thing as a rational or objective ethics.
In response to the relativist proponent it is essentially pointed out that by virtue of his own engagement in argumentation he has already effectively rejected his own thesis, because argumentation is an activity, a special, conflict-free form of interaction between a proponent and an opponent with the specific purpose of clarifying and possibly coming to a mutual agreement concerning some rival truth claims. As such, it presupposes the acceptance as valid of such norms or rules of human conduct as make argumentation itself possible. And it is impossible, then, to argue against and deny the validity of such norms without thereby running into a performative or dialectic contradiction.
The praxeological presuppositions of argumentation, then, are twofold—and we all know them from personal experience more generally also as the conditions and requirements of peace and peaceful interactions: first, each person is entitled to exclusive control or ownership of his physical body (that he and only he can control directly, at will) so as to act independently of others and come to a conclusion on his own. And secondly, for the same reason of mutually independent standing or autonomy, both proponent and opponent must be entitled to their respective prior possessions, i.e., the exclusive control of all other, external means of action appropriated indirectly by them prior to and independent of one another.
Rothbard immediately accepted my proof. In fact, he hailed it as a major breakthrough. As for the various criticisms I have encountered, I have not been impressed, to put it mildly.
JD: Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the future of the West? Do you think sclerotic, bureaucratic states will yield to happier and more decentralized political arrangements? Or do you think Washington, DC, Brussels, et al. will repeat the terrible mistakes of the twentieth century: aggressive foreign policy, unrestrained central banking, and political globalism?
HH: In the short and medium run, I am pessimistic. True, our living standards have gone up and technological progress allows us to do things not long ago thought impossible, but at the same time the coercive powers of the state have continuously expanded, and private property rights and personal freedom have been correspondingly diminished. The process of political and monetary centralization has proceeded unabated. Central banks create more money and credit out of thin air than ever before. Government debt and obligations have risen to exorbitant heights, so as to make some future default a virtual certainty. All the while taxes and regulations have brought economic growth to a standstill. It is clear, then, that a severe economic meltdown is in the making. A Theory of Socialism ... Hans-Hermann Hoppe Best Price: $1.99 Buy New $10.70 (as of 07:55 UTC - Details)
At the same time, throughout most Western countries the populations have been thoroughly dehomogenized by immigration policies favoring multiculturalism. And migration into the West by non-Westerners has been massively increased still as a fallout of the endless US wars and military adventures in the Middle East and elsewhere. Most Western countries now contain within their own native cultures large pockets and clusters of people of not just different, but rival and even hostile cultures.
Combined with a major economic crisis, this makes for an explosive mixture, the ingredients of a civil war.
It is amazing how the ruling elites have so far managed to keep the show running. But there can be no doubt that the day of reckoning must eventually come, and when it does I see two likely scenarios of how to escape the danger of civil war. The first one is the strong man variant, an authoritarian regime that tries to hold all things together by means of centralized, dictatorial powers. And the second variant is that of decentralization: of secession, separation, and disaggregation so as to approach the ideal of a natural order. Naturally, the second variant is the one favored by libertarians (and recommended by Mises). Yet to make this variant win, libertarians have to prepare the ground. The public must be educated about the economic and social advantages of small, competing political units, and it is necessary to find and nurture potential charismatic leaders for the various decentralist and secessionist causes.
JD: Finally, how does living in Turkey affect your perspective? Are old notions of East and West breaking down, and should we consider looking East for allies in the fight for civilization and property?
HH: As mentioned before and emphasized also by Mises, the idea of liberty is originally a Western idea, created by white Western males, and although it has lost some strength there, it is still most prominent and widespread in the West. That does not mean that it is restricted to the West or only accessible to Western minds, however.
If there is anything I have learned from living in various countries and from my many travels, it is that there exists far more sociocultural variety and variance on earth than the typical Westerner might imagine: not just the variety of different countries, but even more so the regional and local variations within each country. Almost everywhere you can find a few libertarians or classical liberals, and you should look out for them wherever they are, of course. But just as we must learn in our private dealings with other individuals how to distinguish between potential converts on the one hand and hopeless cases on the other, so as not to waste our time and effort to no end, so, and for the same reason, we must also learn in our search for allies how to distinguish between hopeful, less hopeful, or even hopeless countries, regions, and localities. And we must realistically recognize that different places offer hugely different and unequal prospects and potential in this regard.
Note: The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute.
The Best of Hans-Hermann Hoppe


lewrockwell--2020-02-29--Trump Does the Taj

Trump Does the Taj

President Donald Trump ’ s 36-hour whirlwind visit to India this past week was designed to show Americans just how adored abroad their president really is .
Unluckily for Trump , his campaign stop at this behemoth nation of 1.3 or 1.4 billion proved a fiasco .
First came the terrifying Chinese coronavirus that so far has killed less people than the weekly toll on China ’ s dangerous roads , but the whole world went into a panic .
The US stock market , the underpinning of Trump ’ s popularity at home , took a crash dive even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Wuhan virus was only a cold .
VP Mike Pence , who believes in Adam and Eve and Noah ’ s Ark , was put in charge of combating the new virus .
American Raj : Liberati ... Eric Margolis Best Price : $ 4.99 Buy New $ 10.00 Next , anti-Muslim riots led by Hindu fanatics in India left large numbers of mostly Muslims dead or injured .
A not very well briefed Trump had just lauded India for its harmonious communal relations .
The riots were sparked by a virulent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has caused distress across the nation .
But all was not lost .
Trump signed a deal to sell $ 3 billion of US arms to India and got a visit to the Taj Mahal .
He will very likely want a copy built in Washington .
The parade-loving president also viewed a fine display in Delhi of Indian martial prowess .
The latest US military helicopters will be sold on credit to India .
They could be particularly useful in the high mountain regions along India ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China .
US President Trump and India ’ s Prime Minister Narendra Modi are both flaming populist leaders who play to two popular passions : hatred of Muslims and fear of China .
Muslims make up roughly 14 % of India ’ s billion-plus population , or some 172 million people .
Trump and American hawks dream of unleashing India against China .
India and China have a long , disputed , ill-demarcated border across the high Himalayas and Karakoram mountains that divide them .
They are rivals over Tibet , Ladakh and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bhutan .
India and Pakistan have already fought three wars over Kashmir .
But Indians are clever and cautious and will not allow the US to push them into a big war against China .
For more on this topic , my geopolitical analysis of the region , ‘ War at the Top of the World , ’ is available through Amazon and used by general staffs , intelligence agencies , and universities .
As I ’ ve long warned , this little-known but highly strategic Himalayan region , the source of India @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rivers , could well spark nuclear war between them – possibly joined by China .
Many Americans could not even find Kashmir on a map and care nothing about a war there that could ignite a nuclear conflict and contaminate the entire globe .
[ War at the Top of th ... Eric S Margolis Check Amazon for Pricing .
But none of this matters at election time .
Trump wants to show he is beloved by the outside world .
He has now forged a very close alliance with the Muslim-hating PM @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for India ’ s powerful Hindu fundamentalist organization , the RSS , which was modeled in the 1920 ’ s after Mussolini ’ s Fascists .
Israel ’ s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who is denounced as a ‘ Jewish fascist ’ by many on Israel ’ s left , has joined Trump and Modi in a de facto anti-Muslim rightist alliance .
At the same time , India has drawn very close to Israel , its principal supplier of arms and nuclear technology .
Israel has opened doors for India across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pro quo almost totally ignored by US media , the Trump White House has allowed massive Indian immigration to the US .
There are now an estimated four million Indian immigrants in the US .
Most are Hindus .
They are designed to offset Muslim immigration and sway US politics in Trump ’ s favor .
There is nothing new in his immigration game .
The Democrats encouraged large numbers of Latino and Irish immigrants who reliably voted for them .
Many of the Indian immigrants are educated and fairly well-off .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , bringing much value to both fields .
Instead of heightening tensions between India , Pakistan and China , the US should be helping calm India ’ s ethnic riots and promoting a fair settlement over the Kashmir dispute that has dragged on since 1947 .
Photo ops of the Taj Mahal are not going to help .
The Best of Eric S. Margolis

Special for LewRockwell.com
President Donald Trump’s 36-hour whirlwind visit to India this past week was designed to show Americans just how adored abroad their president really is.
Unluckily for Trump, his campaign stop at this behemoth nation of 1.3 or 1.4 billion proved a fiasco.
First came the terrifying Chinese coronavirus that so far has killed less people than the weekly toll on China’s dangerous roads, but the whole world went into a panic. The US stock market, the underpinning of Trump’s popularity at home, took a crash dive even though the all-knowing president-physician assured Americans that the Wuhan virus was only a cold.
VP Mike Pence, who believes in Adam and Eve and Noah’s Ark, was put in charge of combating the new virus. American Raj: Liberati... Eric Margolis Best Price: $4.99 Buy New $10.00 (as of 05:35 UTC - Details)
Next, anti-Muslim riots led by Hindu fanatics in India left large numbers of mostly Muslims dead or injured. A not very well briefed Trump had just lauded India for its harmonious communal relations. The riots were sparked by a virulent anti-Muslim immigration bill enacted by hard-line Hindu Prime Minister Narendra Modi that has caused distress across the nation.
But all was not lost. Trump signed a deal to sell $3 billion of US arms to India and got a visit to the Taj Mahal. He will very likely want a copy built in Washington. The parade-loving president also viewed a fine display in Delhi of Indian martial prowess.
The latest US military helicopters will be sold on credit to India. They could be particularly useful in the high mountain regions along India’s tense northern borders with Pakistan and China.
US President Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi are both flaming populist leaders who play to two popular passions: hatred of Muslims and fear of China. Muslims make up roughly 14% of India’s billion-plus population, or some 172 million people.
Trump and American hawks dream of unleashing India against China. India and China have a long, disputed, ill-demarcated border across the high Himalayas and Karakoram mountains that divide them. They are rivals over Tibet, Ladakh and Burma, and Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. India and Pakistan have already fought three wars over Kashmir. But Indians are clever and cautious and will not allow the US to push them into a big war against China.
For more on this topic, my geopolitical analysis of the region, ‘War at the Top of the World,’ is available through Amazon and used by general staffs, intelligence agencies, and universities.
As I’ve long warned, this little-known but highly strategic Himalayan region, the source of India’s and Pakistan’s major rivers, could well spark nuclear war between them – possibly joined by China. Many Americans could not even find Kashmir on a map and care nothing about a war there that could ignite a nuclear conflict and contaminate the entire globe. [ War at the Top of th... Eric S Margolis Check Amazon for Pricing.
But none of this matters at election time. Trump wants to show he is beloved by the outside world.
He has now forged a very close alliance with the Muslim-hating PM Modi, who is the front man for India’s powerful Hindu fundamentalist organization, the RSS, which was modeled in the 1920’s after Mussolini’s Fascists. Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is denounced as a ‘Jewish fascist’ by many on Israel’s left, has joined Trump and Modi in a de facto anti-Muslim rightist alliance.
At the same time, India has drawn very close to Israel, its principal supplier of arms and nuclear technology. Israel has opened doors for India across Washington. Interestingly, in a quid pro quo almost totally ignored by US media, the Trump White House has allowed massive Indian immigration to the US. There are now an estimated four million Indian immigrants in the US. Most are Hindus. They are designed to offset Muslim immigration and sway US politics in Trump’s favor.
There is nothing new in his immigration game. The Democrats encouraged large numbers of Latino and Irish immigrants who reliably voted for them. Many of the Indian immigrants are educated and fairly well-off. They cluster in IT, banking and journalism, bringing much value to both fields.
Instead of heightening tensions between India, Pakistan and China, the US should be helping calm India’s ethnic riots and promoting a fair settlement over the Kashmir dispute that has dragged on since 1947. Photo ops of the Taj Mahal are not going to help.
The Best of Eric S. Margolis