Chapter 5: Economic Egalitarianism: No One Deserves to be Better Than Anyone Else
A sharp Martian visiting Earth would make two observations about the United States — one true, the other only superficially so. On the basis of its ceaseless exercises in self-congratulation, the US appears to him to be a place where free thought is encouraged, and in which man makes war against all the fetters on his mind that reactionary forces had once placed there. That is the superficial truth.
As of March 24, nearly 30 percent of all the COVID-19 deaths in the United States have occurred in New York state. Of the 910 deaths reported so far in the US, 271 happened in New York. Washington State was in second place, with 13 percent of the nation’s COVID-19 deaths. California comes next with 5.6 percent of all deaths, followed by New Jersey, with 4.8 percent.
In fact, more than fifty percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the US have come from just these four states.
Chapter 3: Immigration
Whether we’re talking about illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America, or birthright citizenship, or the migrants coming from the Middle East and Africa, the subject of immigration has been in the news and widely discussed. It is an issue fraught with potentially perilous consequences, so it is especially important for libertarians to understand it correctly.
Chapter 4: Environmentalism
I am a sinner but unrepentant. You see, I don’t practice environmentalism, and I don’t believe in it. I don’t recycle and I don’t conserve — except when it pays to do so. I like clean air — really clean air, like the kind an air conditioner makes. I like the bug-free indoors. I like development, as in buildings, concrete, capitalism, prosperity. I don’t like swamps (and that goes for any “wetland,” even the ballyhooed “Everglades”) or jungles (“rainforests”). I see all animals except dogs and cats as likely disease carriers, unless they’re in a zoo.
With many of our readers having more time on their hands while practicing social distancing, the Mises Institute is exploring our online archives and offering topic-specific collections of curated content. This series, we are calling it the “Quarantine Chronicles: A Shelter-at-Home-Series,” will highlight essays, articles, and clips that may not be as widely known, but will provide a deep understanding of important concepts and history.
We may currently be facing the biggest economic crisis of all time, because it is a multifaceted crisis: first, there is the pandemic with its disastrous direct consequences for tourism, the service sector, and trade. Secondly, there is an oil price shock with a geopolitical background. Third, there is a shock caused by supply chain disruption due to heavy reliance on just-in-time production and distant producers.
Imagine an ordinary person sees a headline like this over her morning coffee: “Your City Will Soon Be the Homicide Capital of the World.” But, upon further inspection, it turns out the homicide rate is actually very low. What is high is the attempted homicide rate. In the city in question, there has been a rash of assaults and attempted homicides. But for whatever reason, the number of people who actually die from these assaults remains extremely low. Perhaps this is because medical care is better.
Chapter 2: “Civil Rights” and Disabilities
Rothbard deepened his attack, taking on the entire civil rights movement.
Introduction
Against the Left explores something basic to libertarianism that many people today have forgotten. As everyone knows, libertarians view the State and the individual as fundamentally opposed. People who freely interact in the market create on their own a wonderful society that advances progress. The State, as Murray Rothbard explained, is a criminal gang of predators. It takes away what people produce, confiscating wealth for its own nefarious purposes.
Chapter 1: The Assault on the Family
Today, the fundamental threat to liberty comes from leftist programs to promote absolute equality. In this chapter, we will first describe egalitarianism in general terms and then discuss one of its main, and most dangerous, manifestations. This is the attempt to destroy the traditional family, the hallmark of civilization. The homosexual agenda demanding same-sex marriage, among many other revolutionary measures, and the feminist movement play a foremost role in this plot against the family.
