For the Austrian School of economic thought, the methodological foundation is unshakable: the praxeology of Ludwig von Mises is based on an a priori logic of human activity, which fundamentally does not need statistical models or empirics for its justification. A person acts purposefully, seeking to remove “felt uneasiness.” And this deductive law is universal, indisputable.

In his interpretation of Southern goals at the outset of the War Between the States, Harry Jaffa places great emphasis on a speech delivered by Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens in March 1861. In this speech, according to Jaffa, Stephens maintained that science supported the doctrine that blacks were an inferior race. I don’t think he understands the speech correctly, but I don’t propose to address that question now.

Contrary to the popular assumption that centralized political power was necessary to destroy slavery, federal power spent much of its history protecting and enforcing the institution. This privatized costs for a privileged few and socialized and diffused the costs onto others in society. This is a common reality with any state intervention, indeed, it is the point of state intervention.