Why did the market choose gold as an international standard for money? In his classic book The Theory of Money and Credit, Ludwig von Mises developed a beautiful and comprehensive philosophy of what money is and how it comes about, starting from barter and working all the way through the international gold standard. One of the valuable insights from the book is Mises’s concept of what characteristics are vital to the money function. He focused on five aspects in particular, and understanding them is still valuable today, even in a world of pure fiat money.
Author: The Marginal Non-Hermit
The Libertarian Party has changed. In 2022, the Mises Caucus, a more hardcore libertarian group embracing anarchists and anarcho-capitalists as well as traditional minarchist libertarians, took over most of the Libertarian National Committee, as well as a majority of state parties.
I recently read Per Bylund’s short and sweet little introduction to economics. It’s a small book at 132 pages and a fairly light read. It is available for free online at the Mises Institute and hard copies are inexpensive, or even free at some official Mises events.
The book provides a solid introduction to economic theory with a special focus on distinctly Austrian concepts, such as entrepreneurship. It is generally clear and succinct, and manages to make a variety of excellent points on a variety of topics.
A few highlights include:
A short response to a thought experiment posed by Tim Pool in which I believe his answer to the thought experiment is wrong. Tim asks a question about whether you or I would believe some of the more audacious events of the last 6-7 years would happen and says our answers would be “No.” But I respond that the nature of the state creates the motivations leading to these events and that, as long as the state claims the kind of massive power over our lives that it does, that all involved with it, the good along with the bad, are vulnerable to these kinds of motivations.
The only way to remove the motivation to use violence to gain control of the state, for good or ill, is to reduce its size.
The video I’m referencing by Tim Pool can be found on Odysee and Bitchute.
Gun control seems to be a permanent fixture of the American authoritarian left. Despite some significant gains on the side of freedom in the last fifteen years, the forces that want to disarm and subjugate peaceful Americans have not given up. On the contrary, they have redoubled their attack on our rights from different directions, so that today we face increasingly hostile and tyrannical state action against any sort of dissidence. We must be prepared to oppose these forces every step of the way, therefore the topics of civilian arms, self-defense, and self-reliance are more important than ever. Historical perspective is valuable, but accurate evaluation of the current landscape and clear and realistic recommendations are absolutely vital.
This video both is and isn’t about the war in Ukraine. It would be more accurate to say it’s about the principles behind what’s going on in Ukraine now, and happens around the world in foreign policy all the time.
These kinds of events always are more complex than they are presented, and interested parties always frame things in ways that work best for them. That’s why it’s always important to look behind the curtain and get a better understanding of the circumstances.
This is somewhat longer than my usual stuff, but there is plenty of material to cover.
Categories
Oh, Yeah, Canada!
The Freedom Convoy is now in Ottawa, and has been there over a week! In protest of covid vaccine mandates, it looks like around 50,000 trucks formed a convoy and now they’re making the would-be tyrants in the Canadian government look as bad and as impotent as they really are.
There are lots of things going on, and I wanted to touch on a few of the ones I thought were most interesting, but there’s also a point about the idiotic injunction on honking that I don’t think anyone has brought up yet… watch to find out!
Civil disobedience is one of the most important weapons we have in the fight for freedom.
Categories
Beware the Bully Pulpit
The “bully pulpit” describes when some person or group in a position of authority uses that authority to make its desires clear to the public. When the executive branch of the government uses it, it is an extremely dangerous tool that can have serious negative consequences.
In the past, it was used to keep wage rates above market and exacerbated the Great Depression. Right now, it’s being used to attack the rights to free speech, expression, and press.
This is a clear threat to free discourse and it should be loudly opposed whenever possible.
Available on Odysee and Bitchute.
Update: Now also available on YouTube.
The minimum wage is one of the dumbest, most short-sighted policies there is. It is worse than other price controls because human labor is almost universally required for the production of all goods.
Yet so many people have weird ideas about wages and how they are determined that the vast majority of people think there is nothing wrong with this highly destructive policy.
Available on Odysee and Bitchute.
Update: Now also available on YouTube.