MCViewPoint

Opinion from a Libertarian ViewPoint

Posts Tagged ‘economic freedom’

Evolutionary Psychology, Economic Freedom, Trade and Benevolence

Posted by M. C. on October 10, 2023

https://substack.com/inbox/post/137786304

Walter Block

I have published almost 3 dozen books, just over 700 refereed journal articles and essays in law reviews, and maybe several thousand op eds (I don’t keep track of the numbers of those). But this is the publication that I think makes the most important contribution:

Levendis, John, Walter E. Block and Robert B. Eckhardt. 2019. “Evolutionary psychology, economic freedom, trade and benevolence.” Review of Economic Perspectives – Národohospodářský obzor; Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 73-92; https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/revecp/19/2/article-p73.xml; 10.2478/revecp-2019-0005; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/revecp-2019-0005; https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/here-is-one-of-my-best-scholarly-papers-ever/; https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/evolutionary-psychology-economic-freedom-trade-and-benevolence; https://www.growkudos.com/publications/10.2478%252Frevecp-2019-0005/reade; file:///C:/Users/WBlock/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/18LCUGME/18041663%20-%20Review%20of%20Economic%20Perspectives%20Evolutionary%20psychology%20economic%20freedom%20trade%20and%20benevolence.pdf

It attempts to explain why there are so few libertarians. The explanation? Our human biology! Trigger warning: don’t read this if you are easily offended.

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Why the “New World Order” Is Impossible to Implement without Creating Mass Chaos

Posted by M. C. on August 11, 2022

The only satisfactory answer is thoroughly chilling: it appears that having acquired all the money one can spend and all the power one can wield, the global elite remains capable of deriving perverse psychological satisfaction from engaging in large-scale acts of wanton destruction. In other words, its representatives do not seem to mind committing a spectacular suicide so long as it is a side effect of a vastly more spectacular democide.

https://mises.org/wire/why-new-world-order-impossible-implement-without-creating-mass-chaos

Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski

The events of the last few years have resurrected a recurring worry among people mindful of their liberty, property, and personal dignity. This worry centers around the prospects of the emergence of the notorious “new world order,” a worldwide totalitarian plot hatched by globalist “elites” intent on destroying the surviving remains of free speech, free enterprise, and free thought.

Before asking how justified such worries are, let us note that the “new world order” narrative typically contains a “negative” and a “positive” element. The “negative” element describes how the global conspirators intend to bring about a worldwide socioeconomic collapse—i.e., eliminate the “old world order”—whereas the “positive” counterpart focuses on the nature of the global totalitarianism will be built on the ashes of destruction. In this connection, it is essential to note that new world order theorists almost always depict the totalitarianism under consideration as some form of technocratic feudalism with communist undertones, most closely reminiscent of present-day China coupled with Western-style “political correctness” and Malthusian eugenics.

When it comes to the “negative” part of the narrative in question, one can plausibly argue that far from consisting of conspiratorial speculation, it is blatantly unfolding before our eyes. Long-term coordinated global inflationism, persistent “stimulus spending,” the energy sector’s “environmentalist” strangulation, the destructive madness of lockdowns, and the relentless promotion of “woke” insanity clearly seem to be forming a perfect storm of worldwide planned chaos.

Obviously, none of these phenomena are spontaneous, and it does not take a genius to grasp the utterly ruinous consequences of their implementation. Thus, the ongoing devastation of the “old world order”—today most often referred to as the “Great Reset” or “building back better”—smacks of coordinated malevolence, giving rise to well-justified concerns.

The “positive” part of the new world order project, on the other hand, appears to be more of a bogeyman. This is because the kind of global totalitarianism that theorists typically envision is a praxeological impossibility.

First, comprehensive depopulation, far from centralizing nearly all productive resources in the hands of the parasitic “elite,” would vastly undercut its power by eliminating the bulk of the global economy’s productive potential. After all, as noted by Julian Simon, it is human beings, with their inventiveness and entrepreneurialism, that constitute the paramount driving force of economic development. Hence, by carrying out their Malthusian plans, elite globalists would saw off the branch on which they are sitting and eliminate themselves together with their victims.

Second, if the subjugated global population were to be literally enslaved rather than culled in a vast eugenic scheme, then the new world order would collapse in no time as well. This is because a stable, well-functioning international totalitarianism would have to rely on exceedingly complex technological solutions and massive amounts of high-quality capital goods.

However, armies of literal slaves cannot create or maintain such goods, nor devise and implement such solutions. After all, slaves are notoriously unproductive individuals, since they have no means and no incentive to invest in their talents, skills, contacts, and complementary resources. Furthermore, it is inconceivable that the masters would perform these tasks, since they would constitute a very small upper crust.

Third, if one were to suggest that the new world order could successfully operate based on highly advanced artificial intelligence solutions, then, once again, the natural question is who would devise and oversee the relevant infrastructure. The elite puppet masters, regardless of their cunning, would be too few to accomplish this task. Masses of slaves, as pointed out earlier, would be singularly ill-equipped to manage this feat.

See the rest here

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Resist the Carrot: The Steady Slide Into a Cashless Society

Posted by M. C. on April 26, 2022

Ultimately, the right to economic freedom begins and ends with anonymous financial transactions.  The slide to a cashless, freedom-less economic world is already here, and the bottom is fast approaching. 

By Mason Lawlor

As the summer season approaches, many parks and entertainment venues, such as Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, are reminding patrons that they will not be allowed to use cash at their venues.  Coming off the heels of nonsensical and unconstitutional lockdown measures, it seems our descent into a cashless world is still on track, and may even be ahead of schedule.

Shops, theaters, stadiums and restaurants across the country are moving to exclusively “contactless payment methods,” a term so grossly Orwellian it should raise concerns.  After all, customers are still touching their platinum credit cards to pay for snacks at convenience stores.  Whether using your smartphone’s Apple Pay feature or your credit card, there is nothing “contactless” about it.  What is accurate about the term is its intention to make Americans scared of the person taking their food order; scared that other shoppers are nothing but potential infectious threats.

The COVID-19 fearmongering that began in early 2020 accelerated this transformation greatly.  Of course, the controllers needed a carrot to dangle in front of semi-conscious Americans to make their lost freedoms an afterthought.  Fear and convenience are often the two most powerful tools wielded by the state to compel submission, and the people appear to be in love with the simplicity of purely electronic payments.

Much of Atlanta has now become cashless, including major retailers and entertainment venues.  The consequence of this is top-to-bottom surveillance of all financial transactions.  The “doomsday scenario” is what China currently employs; a social credit system, if you will.  Citizens’ chips are suddenly turned off if the Communist Party deems them “untrustworthy,” or scores are dropped at the first sight of non-compliance.

Think of the optics here: anybody who openly criticizes government on social media could be punished financially.  Your score could be docked for engaging in “disinformation,” which is, of course, anything the government decides is disinformation.  It is effectively total control over your pocketbook.  The elites have been aiming to eliminate hand-to-hand cash for decades, as it will allow them to monitor, control and tax every transaction.

Your child wants to sell lemonade on a hot Sunday afternoon?  No, he or she must provide ample identification to open a bank account, most of which are entirely digital now.  What about your teenage son who wants to mow lawns in the summer for his neighbors and earn his spending money?  Sorry, that won’t be allowed either.  Everything must be exchanged under the total purview of the state. 

See the rest here

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