Political Theory

The road to serfdom — in both Norway and America— is no coincidental detour, writes Ilana Mercer, but rather a well-charted destiny and often flows through mass political participation.

Correlations between IQ and GDP of countries exist. Without the state, what natural order evolves? Details of the theory of private property are given as the means for society to survive. People own themselves and have never doubted that the instruments that they produce are theirs as well. This extended visibly to certain land territories.

Lack of intelligence, lack of division of labor and violent ideologies are three factors which contribute to states, wars, and imperialism. Fighters in wars were vassals of the Lords, or mercenary groups who could be hired. Fights were frequent but small and they had rules of knightly honor.

Exploitative behavior of the state is studied. Brainwashing was required to build states up. Unlike productive activities via division of labor, parasitic activities like cannibalism, slavery, fraud and robbery did not lead to social cooperation.

The institution of the State is not normal or natural. We will pay for making this error. There are not different and unequal laws applying to masters and individuals. Once you accept, incorrectly, unilateral taxation and ultimate jurisdiction in the hands of the state you are stuck.

The Laffer Curve from the 1920s reflects the truism that a 77 percent tax rate produces the same amount of revenue as a 7 percent tax rate. Once the tax rate exceeds twenty-five percent, less will be collected.

The transition from monarchy to democracy deals with how humans create more freedom than is currently had. The role of monarchs in the pre-state societies and their positions as heads of state since the feudal (1100-1500 AD) period and into the absolute monarchies were the more typical form of rulers. Democracies are rare events in history.

Utopian socialism was a term created by Marx and Lenin to denigrate the enemies of Marx and Lenin. Henri de Saint-Simon’s ideology of the industrial class, opposed to the idling class, inspired and influenced utopian socialism.

Mill played a crucial, but inflated, role in liberalism. Rothbard did not like Mill much. Mill was a disaster on economic freedom and international issues. Mill rejected that workers and capitalists shared interests. Mill was anti-capitalist.

In the face of overwhelming evidence of the prosperity of capitalism, Marxists were forced to rephrase their arguments from material provisions to quality of life. Robert Nozick, a brilliant philosopher of liberty, became a libertarian. Anarchy, State, and Utopia, his main book, dominates debate in political philosophy.