Conversely,
Mises, steeled by his character and resolve, was, at first, a lone
voice crying in the wilderness. He refused to go along with the deceit and repeatedly
pointed out the logical fallacies inherent in Keynesian
economic policies.
Persecuted by Statists
This wasn't a popular stand in the first half of the
twentieth century. In fact, Ludwig and his wife, Margit, barely made it
out of Europe ahead of the Nazi blitzkrieg.
Jorg Hulsmann, author of The Last Knight of Liberalism, writes:
"Mises
was two months shy of his fifty-ninth birthday. He was on the invaders'
list of wanted men. Two years earlier, they had ransacked his Vienna
apartment, confiscating his records, and freezing his assets. Mises then
hoped to be safe in Geneva. Now nowhere in Europe seemed safe. Not only
was he a prominent intellectual of Jewish descent; he was widely known
to be an arch-enemy of National Socialism and of every other form of
socialism. Some called him 'the last knight of liberalism.'
"He
had personally steered Austria away from Bolshevism, saved his country
from the level of hyperinflation that destroyed inter-war Germany, and
convinced a generation of young socialist intellectuals to embrace the
market. Now he was a political refugee headed for a foreign continent.
"The
couple arrived in the United States with barely any money and no
prospects for income. Mises's former students and disciples had found
prestigious positions in British and American universities (often with
his help), but Mises himself was considered an anachronism. In an age of
growing government and central planning, he was a defender of private
property and an opponent of all government intervention in the economy.
Perhaps worst of all, he was a proponent of verbal logic and realism in
the beginning heyday of positivism and mathematical modeling. No
university would have him. Margit began to train as a secretary."
Over
the next decade, husband and wife would slowly rebuild their lives in
America with Mises find new allies in his fight for truth.
In the midst
of these challenges, he published his most important book, Human Action. It would earn him a following whose admiration and devotion were beyond anything he had known in Europe.
With
his courage and logic, Mises identified the long-term consequences of
socialist and fascist errors, strengthening the growing intellectual
resistance to Statism.
Mises was a man of character, a man without a
price, living his life by Virgil's Roman motto, "Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito,"
which translates, "Do not give in to evil, but proceed ever more boldly
against it."
Mises proceeded to do just that. The late Dean of the Austrian School, Murray Rothbard, one of the greatest economic minds and
good friend of Mises wrote:
"Holding
these views, and hewing to truth indomitably in the face of a century
increasingly devoted to statism and collectivism, Mises became famous
for his 'intransigence' in insisting on a non-inflationary gold standard
and on laissez-faire.
"Effectively
barred from any paid university post in Austria and later in the United
States, Mises pursued his course gallantly. As the chief economic
adviser to the Austrian government in the 1920s, Mises was
single-handedly able to slow down Austrian inflation; and he developed
his own 'private seminar' which attracted the outstanding young
economists, social scientists, and philosophers throughout Europe.
"As
the founder of the 'neo-Austrian School' of economics, Mises's business
cycle theory, which blamed inflation and depressions on inflationary
bank credit encouraged by Central Banks, was adopted by most younger
economists in England in the early 1930s as the best explanation of the
Great Depression."
At
a time when the crowd was streaming toward Statism, whether in the form
of Nazism, Fascism, Socialism, Communism, New Deal, Fair Deal, etc.,
Mises rejected the blatant errors in each, overcoming the tides of the
time through thinking deeply on the underlying principles.
Regardless of
the personal and professional cost, Mises refused to teach what he knew
wasn't true, even though opportunities abound if would would go with
the economic flow. Mises could not do this and maintain his intellectual
integrity, for he knew in his heart that Keynesianism was wrong.
Rothbard again, shares:
"For
Mises was able to demonstrate (a) that the expansion of free markets,
the division of labor, and private capital investment is the only
possible path to the prosperity and flourishing of the human race; (b)
that socialism would be disastrous for a modern economy because the
absence of private ownership of land and capital goods prevents any sort
of rational pricing, or estimate of costs, and (c) that government
intervention, in addition to hampering and crippling the market, would
prove counter-productive and cumulative, leading inevitably to socialism
unless the entire tissue of interventions was repealed."
Today,
Mises looks prophetic having predicted the severe economic disruptions
in the economy by society's acceptance of Keynesian errors.
With the
West economic malaise in full bloom, gutted through years of
inflationary spending and soaring debt loads, nearly everyone now
recognizes that Mises was right all along.
Few
will ever comprehend the level of courage it required for Mises to
sustain the personal and professional abuses he received. Yet somehow,
he never wavered in his belief that time would eventually prove him
right, even if that meant from the grave.
Intellectual truth meant more
to Mises than anything else, because a person of character understands
that following truth is more important than rewards, recognition, or
professional perks.
Time has certainly
proven Mises right. Government intervention, far from being a modern
day elixir, has damaged economies and markets wherever its poison has
been imbibed.
Sadly though, once economic error sinks into the mind of
the body politic, rooting it out takes time and effort, but it must be
done. As Mises stated in Human Action,
"Economics deals with
society's fundamental problems; it concerns everyone and belongs to all.
It is the main and proper study of every citizen."
All citizens should
study the history of political, economic and spiritual freedoms, the
very freedoms that undergird the liberties enjoyed today in the West.
Follow the Money
If
Mises pointed out the fallacies of inflationist and socialist policies
in the 1920's, then why did the West proceed for nearly a century on a
spending and borrowing binge, resulting in the near bankruptcy for most
governments of the West? The answer revolves around character, or more
pointedly, lack of character.
"Follow the money" (FTM) is the motive
behind most politician's questionable behaviors. FTM along with its
brother "something for nothing" (SFN) combine to make a powerful force
in overcoming principles and character wherever they are allowed to
prosper unchecked.
Since most people have a price, educators and
politicians FTM into supporting Keynesian policies and are rewarded for
selling out their character and supporting faulty economics
rationalizing their sell out by the pot of gold offered to them at the
end of the rainbow.
This behavior created the current that Mises opposed
in his battle for truth against errors. Mises insisted on a gold
standard to end political-induced inflation.
Inflation: The Hidden Tax
Politicians
sell out their character for inflation because they are always short of
two things in modern democracies - money to buy votes and votes to
obtain further money.
In the past, a politician could not spend
government money unless he raised revenues through increased taxes.
Since tax hikes were highly unpopular, he feared losing his elected
position; therefore, he restrained his appetite for spending in order to
remain popular with his voters.
Today, however, through the "joys" of
Keynesian economics, this check to poor behavior is gone. Politicians
can now spend more money than taxes raise indefinitely, without having
to even suggest increasing taxes.
They do this by inflating the
money supply through printing fiat paper money (monopoly money), calling
it legal tender. Keynesian policies have given Western governments an
unlimited money supply to buy further votes without raising taxes, thus
avoiding the ire of the fooled electorate.
The inflated money loses its
monetary value as it's diluted within the economy, but Keynesian
politicians don't seem to mind. They are willing to sacrifice the
citizen's wealth through inflation for their personal benefit in money
and votes.
What makes inflationary policy so devious is that it isn't
easily understood by the people. Politicians hide behind their Keynesian
soundbites while in office, then leave a bankrupt governments as their legacy, long after they are retired.
Indeed,
Keynesian economics provided an amenable world-view for current
politicians because it condones their SFN inflationary money policies (a
secret tax on citizen's money) without having to risk an election day
disaster.
Keynesians can even proclaim to their voters that they didn't
raise taxes, yet secretly they inflate the money supply which is taxing
everyone and hurting those most who live on a fixed income and cannot
afford the higher prices that inflation produces.
Most
politicians, however, are not concerned with the citizens' long-term
wealth, focused instead, upon their short-term need of money and votes
to get reelected. In the politician's mindset, why worry about the
country's long-term viability when he will be out of office and not
responsible for the crash?
Politicians quickly learn the game, pandering
to the needs of the current voters, even promising more benefits to
them, ignoring the long-term consequences of their irresponsible
behavior. Their concern for being elected today trumps the downside
damage to the country years, if not decades, hence.
Nonetheless, John
Maynard Keynes, understood the long-term consequences of his policies,
but when confronted, he answered, "In the long run, we are all dead."
A
humorous quip perhaps, but avoiding the underlying issue. Any system
that provides current politicians access to future tax dollars in order
to buy an election today is immoral on its face.
Indeed, both parties
become bidders of other people's money, promising gifts to current
constituents to be paid for by future tax payers, many not yet even
born.
When a person comprehends this point, he will understand why Mises
was persecuted so vehemently, because he pointed out the illicit nature
of the alliance between the State and the Keynesian economic
professors, refusing to go along with the inflationary charade parade at
the tax-payers expense.
The
economists sell out their character for comfort, money, and power
gained through supporting popular Keynesian policies. Individuals, in
the pursuit of gain, can advance by writing, teaching, and supporting
Keynesian theories of government intervention.
But why do most
Universities support government intervention in the economy? Can you
say FTM? Who is funding nearly every universities in America and the
Western world? Is it the same Western governments who benefit from the
Universities teaching the flawed Keynesian economics?
The same
government, who partners with educators, convincing the masses of the
benefit of Keynesian inflationary policies, then rewards the educators
through money grants, prestigious university posts, and government
advisory roles in the Statist governments. All the professor has to do
is promote the popular Keynesian policies to move ahead.
If a person
were to FTM, it flows something like this in a simplistic rendition:
- government prints paper money,
- stealing value from all Americans,
- taking
some of the money to reward the economic educators (doctrinaires), who
write mighty tomes (propaganda) in support of said governments,
- creating
a virtuous cycle of advancement for exploiters in both the political
and educational fields.
All of these benefits are paid for by the
masses, who being ignorant of the scheme, merely wonder why it becomes
tougher every year to make a living.
Politicians win by spending money
that doesn't belong to them; economists win by receiving advancements
through teaching flawed doctrine; the citizens lose by declining wealth
and opportunities, surrendering "we the people" to "we the exploited."
Mises pointed out the scheme and refused to participate, paying the
price for his character-based stand, blackballed from every major
university teaching post even though he is recognized as one of the
greatest economists of all-time.
Bankrupting the West
Young
and impressionable students, not trained to recognize the fallacies of
Keynesianism, become susceptible to the propaganda, despite the fact that
after five thousand years of recorded history, Statist policies have
never worked anywhere.
Even the Kings of Propaganda, both Hitler and
Lenin, would be proud of the level of deceit here. Hitler taught, "Make
the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will
believe it," along with, "How fortunate for leaders that men do not
think." Not to be outdone, Lenin espoused, "A lie told often enough
becomes truth."
If economists are rewarded for following the company
line, and the companies, in this case, are funded by the government,
then it doesn't take a grand conspiracy theory, but merely an
understanding of FTM and SFN, to see why our present economic policies
support further government interventions regardless of whether they are
bankrupting the Western Nations or not.
What other valid explanation
could explain the United States multi-trillion dollar national debt?
It's hard for anyone to make a character-based stand in the workplace
when the boss rewards the bad behaviors and punishes the good ones.
People are left in a moral quandary, pitting their money against their
morals.
Millions of people surrender their morals for money, engulfing
the world in darkness. But when one person sets his
soul on fire with truth, his light radiates a path out of the darkness.
This is exactly what Ludwig Von Mises did: He lit a path out of the
darkness for others to follow.
Where is the next generation of men and
women willing to set their soul on fire for truth?
Where are the
courageous citizens, who cannot tolerate falsehoods any longer, who
bravely choose to live by Virgil's quote, "do not give in to evil, but
proceed ever more boldly against it"?
Social Leader Weekly 
