The Menace of the Herd, or Procrustes at Large

Dedict 1

PRO-CRUS’TES (prō-krŭs’tēz) (Gr. Antiq.) A celebrated legendary highwayman of Attica who tied his victims upon an iron bed, and, as the case required, either stretched or cut off their legs to adapt them to its length — whence the metaphorical phrase, the bed of Procrustes. — Webster’s International Dictionary, 1902, p. 1142.

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.

Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

Become a Member