Monday 14 April 2008

Speak up, the statists can't hear you!

Peter Boettke isn't the only one who's noticed that statism is again on the rise, but while he waits for another hero to answer the call, Paul Walker suggests we each look to ourselves to beat the bastards back one at a time -- in other words, another Marginal Revolution.  We don't need another Mises, Friedman (or Rand), he argues: what greater weapon do we need than the intellectual heritage of these giants.

We have great ideas and this is a battle to do with ideas, not men. Let us use these ideas ourselves to argue as to why statism is wrong. We can not wait for someone else to do the job for us, it is time for a marginal revolution, we must convince other people one at time.

Seems to me I've heard Richard Boddie (aka Senator Chocolate) saying something similar.  "People are deluded en masse but enlightened one at a time," he said -- or for economists: people are misled in the aggregate, and enlightened at the margins.  The job is ours to do.

At a time when all about you are selling out, stand up. It's what any honest man or woman would do.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When you're done saving the free world how about making me a sandwich and getting me a beer.

Paul Walker said...

The market will provide.There are lots of cafes and bars out there.