U.S. History

The First World War was critical to boosting the influence of that child of progressivism and Wall Street corporatism: the Federal Reserve System. 

In the early years, the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony adopted a 17th-century form of socialism and nearly starved to death. They had little to be thankful for until they gave up on dreams of utopia and turned to markets instead.

In this episode, Ryan McMaken takes a look at how the domestic and commercial rituals of the Thanksgiving holiday are things that communists really don‘t like. 

While men like Murray Rothbard and Ludwig von Mises believed in “just” war, nonetheless, they did not believe that wars lead to “just” outcomes, as war leads to destruction of civilization. The outcome of the American war of secession proved that point eloquently.

As with any other government-controlled institution, a high level of public skepticism about elections is healthy.

In his failed 1896 presidential campaign, inflationist William Jennings Bryan declared that he would “not crucify mankind on a cross of gold.” But at least even Bryan favored silver money. Today‘s political candidates will crucify us on a cross of paper.

If the government’s primary job were, as we’re taught, to protect the lives and property of the American people, then avoiding a nuclear exchange would be its single greatest priority. 

The current civil war on the American right is only the latest chapter in a much older story.

One of contentious parts of the history of the American Civil War is the question of whether southern blacks served as soldiers in the Confederate army. While the numbers of black Confederate soldiers didn‘t match their northern counterparts, many of them did serve as armed combatants.

Episodes that made a difference involved an ideological and philosophical battle about policy and the role of government. That’s what the Mises Institute is all about–we’re in the business of idea bombs.