"Anticommunism" versus Capitalism, by Ludwig von Mises, The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality, 1956 Excerpt from part V "There exists today a sham anticommunist front. ... They make an illusory distinction between communism and socialism and — paradoxically enough — look for a support of their recommendation of noncommunist socialism to the document which its authors called The Communist Manifesto. They think that they have proved their case by employing such aliases for socialism as planning or the welfare state."
Imperial Chinese Welfare State, by Abbé Huc, The Chinese Empire, 1855 Related Topic: China Recounts the socialist reforms of Wang Anshi in 11th century China, opposed by Sima Guang, and compares them to proposed socialist reforms in mid-19th century France "According to Wang-ngan-ché, the carrying out of his scheme was to procure infallible happiness to the people in the development of the greatest possible material enjoyments for everyone. ... ' ... In order to prevent the oppression of man by man the State should ... take the entire management of commerce, industry, and agriculture into its own hands, with the view of succouring the working classes and preventing their being ground to the dust by the rich.'"
Inequality of Wealth and Incomes, by Ludwig von Mises, The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, May 1955 Related Topics: Capital Goods, The Free Market, Taxation Describes how attempts to equalize incomes and wealth lead to lowered standard of living for the masses and eventually to socialism "When Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto recommended 'a heavy progressive or graduated income tax' and 'abolition of all right of inheritance' ... They were fully aware of the inevitable consequences of these policies. They openly declared that these measures are 'economically untenable' and that they advocated them only ... as a means of bringing about socialism."
What Is the Enemy?, by Sheldon Richman, Freedom Daily, Apr 2006 Related Topic: Free Markets "Which kind of state socialism is the greatest threat? ... the major receivers of largess, and the main proponents of government expansion, will be businessmen. In other words, the great threat to liberty is the corporate state, otherwise known as corporatism, state capitalism, and political capitalism."
Friedrich A. Hayek (1899-1992), by Peter J. Boettke, The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, Aug 1992 Related Topics: Friedrich A. Hayek "The Road to Serfdom ... forced advocates of socialism to confront an additional problem, over and beyond the technical economic one. If socialism required the replacement of the market with a central plan, then, Hayek pointed out, an institution must be established that would be responsible for formulating this plan."
Ludwig von Mises: Scholar, Creator, Hero, by Murray N. Rothbard, 1988 Related Topics: Ludwig von Mises, Banking, Ludwig von Mises Institute, Mont Pelerin Society "A crucial objective of socialism was for central planners to allocate resources to fulfill the planners' goals. But Mises showed that, even if we set aside the vexed question of whether the planners' goals coincide with the public good, socialism would not permit the planners to achieve their own goals rationally, let alone those of consumers or of the public interest."
Mises: Defender of Freedom, by George Reisman, Mises.org Daily Article, 29 Sep 2006 Related Topics: Ludwig von Mises, Capitalism, Law of Comparative Advantage, Farming "... he showed ... that Nazism was actually a form of socialism. Any system characterized by price and wage controls, and thus by shortages and government controls over production and distribution, as was Nazism, is a system in which the government is the de facto owner of the means of production."
On Equality and Inequality, by Ludwig von Mises, Modern Age, 1961 Related Topics: Rights, Capitalism, Compulsory Education, Entrepreneurship, Government, Labor "Under socialism the 'comrade' gets what 'big brother' deigns to give him and he is to be thankful for whatever he got. ... It is in our Western circuit that socialism makes the greatest strides. Every project to narrow down what is called the 'private sector' of the economic organization is considered as highly beneficial, as progress ..."
Socialism and Medicine, Part 2, by William L. Anderson, Freedom Daily, Jun 2008 Related Topics: Health Care, Canada, Capitalism, The Free Market Examines the economics of medical care in the United States, including the influence of third-party payers and comparisons to medical care in Canada "... under a socialistic system, capital becomes a liability rather than an asset. The reason is that under a system of private profit, capital is used by its owners to provide an income; in socialism, capital does not provide an income to anyone. Rather, it is an expense item and nothing else."
Socialized Medicine in a Wealthy Country, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., Mises.org Daily Article, 2 Dec 2006 Related Topics: Health Care, Capitalism, Government, Life Extension "... the socialist is not persuaded by the argument that the poor will be richer under capitalism because they are aware that inequality will continue to exist under capitalism. It is more important to them to reduce the well-being of the rich than it is to improve the lot of the poor, so long as the poor still constitute an identifiable class within the population."
The "Value" of Public Schooling, by Jacob G. Hornberger, Freedom Daily, Nov 2006 Related Topics: Compulsory Education, Educational Freedom, Militarism "... most Cubans know that public schooling and government-provided health care constitute socialism, and they are very proud of their educational and health-care systems. They would not want to see them abolished. ... most Americans honestly believe that public schooling and Medicare and Medicaid constitute 'free enterprise' ..."
The Democrats Are Doomed, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 9 Feb 2007 Related Topics: Democratic Party, Government "... the root of the problem is not the individuals in question but the ideology that underlies the raison d'être of the modern Democratic Party, at least at the national level. That ideology is socialism. ... there is no economic activity that these people don't favor regulating to the nth degree."
The Idea of Liberty is Western, by Ludwig von Mises, American Affairs, Oct 1950 Related Topics: Liberty, Capitalism, Greece Excerpted from chapter 21 of Money, Method, and the Market Process "Socialism is unrealizable as an economic system because a socialist society would not have any possibility of resorting to economic calculation. This is why it cannot be considered as a system of society's economic organization. It is a means to disintegrate social cooperation and to bring about poverty and chaos."
The War the Government Cannot Win, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 1 May 2007 Related Topics: Terrorism, Iraq, Iraq War (2003), The State, United States Discusses how government cannnot win the war on terror because economic law is more powerful than the state "It is precisely this rationale that led socialism in Russia to last 70 years and drive the entire country into the ground. ... Can't the government ... see that while their people were lining up blocks for a scrap of bread and dying at the age of 60, ours were shopping in massive department stores and living to 70 and 75? Why isn't it obvious what a failure socialism has been?"
U.S. Hypocrisy in Cuba, by Jacob G. Hornberger, 26 May 2006 Related Topics: Cuba "Every Cuban fully understands that such things as public schooling, national health care, social security, welfare, income taxation, and coercive redistribution of wealth are socialism. Castro and his minions have long been honest ... Yet here in the United States, nearly every ... official ... proudly (and incorrectly) teaches Americans that the same programs here ... are 'free enterprise.'"
What Is the Free Market?, by Murray N. Rothbard, The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics, 1993 Related Topics: The Free Market "The ultimate in government coercion is socialism. Under socialist central planning the socialist planning board lacks a price system for land or capital goods. ... the socialist planning board therefore has no way to calculate prices or costs or to invest capital so that the latticework of production meshes and clears."
