"The function of the statist ideologists is to weave the false set of Emperor’s clothes, to convince the public of a massive double standard: that when the State commits the gravest of high crimes it is really not doing so, but doing something else that is necessary, proper, vital, and even—in former ages—by divine command. The age-old success of the ideologists of the State is perhaps the most gigantic hoax in the history of mankind." — Murray N. Rothbard, The Ethics of Liberty.
#rothbard #state #statism #liberty

"This year would have been his 100th birthday, and we are paying special tribute to his legacy all year long. While we would love to know what he would think of the world in 2026—the federal government plummeting, the corporate press increasingly neutered, alternative and even subversive content freely circulating—we are fortunate to have a global network of Rothbardians that continues his battle against the state."
https://mises.org/mises-wire/celebrate-murrays-100th-birthday-us
#rothbard #economics #history #philosophy #politics #state #freedom

Today, March 2, marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great economist, historian, and political philosopher Murray N. Rothbard.
#birthday #rothbard #economics #history #mespm #austrianeconomics

"Chuang Tzu wrote, ‘The common people have a constant nature; they spin and are clothed, till and are fed... it is what may be called their “natural freedom”’. These people of natural freedom were born and died themselves, suffered from no restrictions or restraints, and were neither quarrelsome nor disorderly. If rulers were to establish rites and laws to govern the people, ‘it would indeed be no different from stretching the short legs of the duck and trimming off the long legs of the heron’ or ‘haltering a horse’. Such rules would not only be of no benefit, but would work great harm. In short, Chuang Tzu concluded, the world ‘does simply not need governing; in fact it should not be governed’." — Murray N. Rothbard.
#chuangtzu #rothbard #aphet #economics #history #naturallaw

"‘Mercantilism’ is the name given by late nineteenth century historians to the politico-economic system of the absolute state from approximately the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Mercantilism has been called by various historians or observers a ‘system of Power or State-building’ (Eli Heckscher), a system of systematic state privilege, particularly in restricting imports or subsidizing exports (Adam Smith), or a faulty set of economic theories, including protectionism and the alleged necessity for piling up bullion in a country. In fact, mercantilism was all of these things; it was a comprehensive system of statebuilding, state privilege, and what might be called ‘state monopoly capitalism’.", - Murray N.Rothbard.
#rothbard #aphet #statism #history #economics #mercantilism #capitalism

"Lao Tzu, after referring to the common experience of mankind, came to his penetrating conclusion: ‘The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished... The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be’." — Murray N.Rothbard.
#rothbard #laotzu #statism #aphet #austrianeconomics