Letter 1
From: Jens S
Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2020 1:01 PM
To: Walter Block <[email protected]>
Subject: The peaceful bum problem
Hello Walter,
many people (for example Ben Shapiro) claim that it is not acceptable to just do enough to get by. Instead, they claim, you have a duty to go out of your way to benefit the society around you as much as you can.
In a Libertarian society, this would be nonsense, because only the NAP is a firm boundary.
However, many people have “sinned” by cooperating with the Gov., so they better make up for it before the Libertarian Nuremberg Trials start.
Does this make sense or am I off?
Best Regards
Jens
Letter 2
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 at 1:29 AM
From: “Walter Block” <[email protected]>
To: “Jens S”
Subject: RE: The peaceful bum problem
Dear Jens:
It is a virtue to benefit others.
I cooperate with the govt. I pay taxes, obey rules of the road, go to govt parks, libraries, museums, I used to work for public universities.
I think being a member of the ruling class is the crucial variable.
Block, 2006; Burris, 2012; Codevilla, 2010; Domhoff, 1967, 1971, 1998; Donaldson and Poynting, 2007; Hoppe, 1990; Hughes, 1977; Kolko, 1963; Mises, 1978; Oppenheimer, 1975; Raico, 1977; Rockwell, 2001; Rothbard, 2004. In the view of Rothbard, 2004: “All States are governed by a ruling class that is a minority of the population, and which subsists as a parasitic and exploitative burden upon the rest of society. Since its rule is exploitative and parasitic, the State must purchase the alliance of a group of “Court Intellectuals,” whose task is to bamboozle the public into accepting and celebrating the rule of its particular State. The Court Intellectuals have their work cut out for them. In exchange for their continuing work of apologetics and bamboozlement, the Court Intellectuals win their place as junior partners in the power, prestige, and loot extracted by the State apparatus from the deluded public. The noble task of Revisionism is to de-bamboozle: to penetrate the fog of lies and deception of the State and its Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history of the motivation, the nature, and the consequences of State activity. By working past the fog of State deception to penetrate to the truth, to the reality behind the false appearances, the Revisionist works to delegitimize, to desanctify, the State in the eyes of the previously deceived public.”
Block, Walter E. 2006. “Radical Libertarianism: Applying Libertarian Principles to Dealing with the Unjust Government, Part II” Reason Papers, Vol. 28, Spring, pp. 85-109; http://www.walterblock.com/publications/block_radical-libertarianism-rp.pdf; http://www.walterblock.com/wp-content/uploads/publications/block_radical-libertarianism-rp.pdf; (death penalty justified, net taxpayer, ruling class analysis p. 87)
Burris, Charles A. 2012. “Who Rules America: Power Elite Analysis and American History.” January 18; http://archive.lewrockwell.com/burris/burris21.1.html
Codevilla, Angelo M. 2010. The Ruling Class: How They Corrupted America and What We Can Do About It. Beaufort Books. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0825305586/?tag=waiscr08-20
Domhoff, G. William. 1967. Who Rules America? Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Domhoff, G. William. 1971. The Higher Circles: The Governing Class in America. New York: Vintage Books
Domhoff, G. William. 1998. Who Rules America? Power and Politics in the Year 2000, Third Edition, Santa Cruz: University of California
Donaldson, Mike and Scott Poynting. 2007. Ruling Class Men: Money, Sex, Power. Peter Lang.
http://books.google.com/books/about/Ruling_Class_Men.html?id=V-KjZ8p3N2oC
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1990. “Marxist and Austrian Class Analysis,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2, Fall, pp. 79-94; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_5.pdf http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:K12nTci91bQJ:www.mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_5.pdf+%22Marxist+and+Austrian+Class+Analysis,%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Hughes, Jonathan R.T. 1977. The Governmental Habit: Economic Controls from Colonial Times to the Present. New York: Basic Books,
Kolko, Gabriel. 1963. Triumph of Conservatism, Chicago: Quadrangle Books
Mises, Ludwig von. 1978. The Clash of Group Interests and Other Essays. New York: Center for Libertarian Studies. http://www.mises.org/etexts/mises/clash/clash.asp
Oppenheimer, Franz. [1914] 1975. The State, New York: Free Life Editions
Raico, Ralph. 1977. “Classical Liberal exploitation theory: a comment on Professor Liggio’s paper,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3, Summer, pp. 179-184; http://mises.org/daily/4567/; http://mises.org/document/1641/Classical-Liberal-Exploitation-Theory-A-Comment-on-Professor-Liggios-Paper
Rockwell, Jr. Llewellyn H. 2001. “Liberty and the Common Good” December 31;
http://www.mises.org/article.aspx?Id=860
Rothbard, Murray N. 2004. “The Case for Revisionism (and Against A Priori History)”; http://mises.org/library/case-revisionism-and-against-priori-history
Rothbard, Murray N. 1977. “The Treaty That Wall Street Wrote.” Inquiry, vol. 1, no. 2, December 5: pp. 9–14; https://www.lewrockwell.com/1970/01/murray-n-rothbard/the-treaty-that-wall-street-wrote/
Class analysis:
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1990. “Marxist and Austrian Class Analysis,” The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2, Fall, pp. 79-94; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_5.pdf http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:K12nTci91bQJ:www.mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_5.pdf+%22Marxist+and+Austrian+Class+Analysis,%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Block, Walter E. 2006. “Radical Libertarianism: Applying Libertarian Principles to Dealing with the Unjust Government, Part II” Reason Papers, Vol. 28, Spring, pp. 85-109; http://www.walterblock.com/publications/block_radical-libertarianism-rp.pdf; http://www.walterblock.com/wp-content/uploads/publications/block_radical-libertarianism-rp.pdf; (death penalty justified, net taxpayer, ruling class analysis p. 87)
Burris, Charles A. 2012. “Who Rules America: Power Elite Analysis and American History.” January 18; http://archive.lewrockwell.com/burris/burris21.1.html
Libertarian Class Analysis (also called Power Elite Analysis or Establishment Studies) is a theme I have repeatedly stressed in my articles at LRC. Knowledge is power. Empower yourself by learning about Libertarian Class Analysis and how it impacts specifically upon the welfare-warfare state and the parasitical elites which benefit from this leviathan within our midst. Here are several items with which the discerning LRC reader may begin:
“Libertarian Class Analysis,” by Sheldon Richman
“Our Establishment Church,” by Charles A. Burris
“Hidden History: Where Organized Crime and Government Meet,” by Charles A. Burris
“Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy,” by Murray N. Rothbard
“The Anatomy of the State,” by Murray N. Rothbard
“Origins of the Federal Reserve,” by Murray N. Rothbard
“Our Interests and Their Interests,” by Murray N. Rothbard
“The Clash of Group Interests,” by Ludwig von Mises
“Toward a Theory of State Capitalism: Ultimate Decision Making and Class Structure,” by Walter E. Grinder and John Hagel III
“Classical Liberal Roots of Marxist Class Analysis,” by Ralph Raico (audio lecture)
“Marxist and Austrian Class Analysis,” by Hans-Herman Hoppe (audio lecture)
“America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution,” by Angelo M. Codevilla
“A Glimpse Behind the Curtain,” by Charles A. Burris
Libertarian Class Analysis — an Amazon.com book list
The Elite Is Neat, The Masses are Asses — an Amazon.com book list
Power Brokers, Fixers, and Elite Insiders — an Amazon.com book list
Establishment Studies — an Amazon.com book list
I’ve written a bit about the Libt Nuremberg Trials:
Alston, Wilton D. and Walter E. Block. 2007. “Reparations, Once Again.” Human Rights Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, September, pp. 379-392; http://tinyurl.com/2b75fl
Block, Walter E. 2001. “The Moral Dimensions of Poverty, Entitlements and Theft,” The Journal of Markets and Morality, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 83-93; http://www.acton.org/publicat/m_and_m/2001_spring/block.html; Search for “Walter Block” under “Authors” here: http://www.marketsandmorality.com/index.php/mandm/search
Block, Walter E. 2002. “On Reparations to Blacks for Slavery,” Human Rights Review, Vol. 3, No. 4, July-September, pp. 53-73;
http://www.walterblock.com/wp-content/uploads/publications/reparations_slavery.pdf; https://link.springer.com/journal/12142/3/4/page/1; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12142-002-1003-4
(David Horowitz, Randall Robinson)
Block, Walter E. 2003. “Libertarianism vs. Objectivism; A Response to Peter Schwartz,” Reason Papers, Vol. 26, Summer, pp. 39-62; http://www.reasonpapers.com/pdf/26/rp_26_4.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2004. “Radical Libertarianism: Applying Libertarian Principles to Dealing with the Unjust Government, Part I” Reason Papers, Vol. 27, Fall, pp. 117-133;
http://www.walterblock.com/wp-content/uploads/publications/block_radical-libertarianism-rp.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2007. “Ron Paul and Matching Funds,” October 1;
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/block/block86.html
Block, Walter E. 2008. Privatize The Highways. Auburn, AL: The Mises Institute
Block, Walter E. 2009. “Toward a Libertarian Theory of Guilt and Punishment for the Crime of Statism” in Hulsmann, Jorg Guido and Stephan Kinsella, eds., Property, Freedom and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, pp. 137-148; http://mises.org/books/hulsmann-kinsella_property-freedom-society-2009.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2009. “Libertarian punishment theory: working for, and donating to, the state” Libertarian Papers, Vol. 1; http://libertarianpapers.org/articles/2009/lp-1-17.pdf; http://libertarianpapers.org/2009/17-libertarian-punishment-theory-working-for-and-donating-to-the-state/#comments (Concentration camp guard)
Block, Walter E. 2010. “In Defense of Counterfeiting Illegitimate Money: Rejoinder to Murphy and Machaj,” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 69, No. 2, 867-880, April; http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123327372/abstract
Block, Walter E. 2011. “Hoppe, Kinsella and Rothbard II on Immigration: A Critique.” Journal of Libertarian Studies; Vol. 22, pp. 593–623; http://mises.org/journals/jls/22_1/22_1_29.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2011. “Rejoinder to Kinsella and Tinsley on Incitement, Causation, Aggression and Praxeology” Journal of Libertarian Studies; Vol. 22, pp. 641–664; http://mises.org/journals/jls/22_1/22_1_32.pdf
Block, Walter E. 2015. “On slavery and libertarianism.” Journal of Economic and Social Thought. Vol. 2, Issue 3, September, pp. 161-174; www.kspjournals.org
http://www.kspjournals.org/index.php/JEST/issue/view/42; http://www.kspjournals.org/index.php/JEST/article/view/346
Block, Walter E. 2010. “Are unions criminal gangs?” Global Virtue Ethics Review, Vol. 6. No. 1, pp. 28-49; http://www.spaef.com/article.php?id=1176; http://www.spaef.com/file.php?id=1176; http://www.academia.edu/1497243/Are_Unions_Criminal_Gangs
Block, Walter E. 2009. “Libertarian punishment theory: working for, and donating to, the state” Libertarian Papers, Vol. 1; http://libertarianpapers.org/2009/17-libertarian-punishment-theory-working-for-and-donating-to-the-state/
Block, Walter E. 2008. “Homesteading, ad coelum, owning views and forestalling.” The Social Sciences. Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 96-103; http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1890872
Block, Walter E. Unpublished C. “Praxeological Insights, or Artificially Impregnable Theories?”
Block, Walter E. and J.H. Huebert. 2008-2009. “Defending Corporations” Cumberland Law Review, Vol. 39(2), pp. 363-385; http://iris.cba.loyno.edu/exchange/walterblock/Inbox/Re:%20can%27t%20access%20pub.EML/1_multipart_xF8FF_2_2008-2009_Defending%20Corporations.pdf/C58EA28C-18C0-4a97-9AF2-036E93DDAFB3/2008-2009_Defending%20Corporations.pdf?attach=1
Block, Walter E. and Gene Callahan. 2003. “Is There A Right to Immigration? A Libertarian Perspective,” Human Rights Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, October-December, pp. 46-71;
http://www.walterblock.com/publications/block-callahan_right-immigrate-2003.pdf
Whitehead, Roy, Catherine Gould and Walter E. Block. 2004. “The value of private water rights: from a legal and economic perspective,” Albany Law Environmental Outlook Journal. Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 315-343; http://tinyurl.com/36p9he; http://141.164.133.3/faculty/Block/Articles%20for%20web/The%20value%20of%20Private%20Water%20Rights.doc; http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/alev9&div=15&g_sent=1&collection=journals
Best regards,
Walter
Letter 3
From: Jens S <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 07, 2020 1:30 PM
To: Walter Block <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: RE: The peaceful bum problem
Hello Walter,
you are a titan, the Libertarian punishment theory article helped me a bunch!
Another question:
Austrians know that humans have goals, and will use scarce means to achieve
their goals starting with those they value most, and then going down the list.
If my doorknob is broken I use tools and materials to fix it, or use money or
favors owed to get somebody else to do the job.
But what if I try to fix/replace a bad habit?
If I drink too much, have shoddy work habits and smoke cigarettes every day,
I do many outward things like buying nicotine patches and hiring hypnotists and psychologists.
But I am also working inwardly, trying to pull some goals on my inner list down, and push others
up.
Do you think economic theory can adequately describe this inner work,
or is it firmly in the realm of psychology, not to be touched
by economists?
Best Regards,
Jens
Letter 4
Dear Jens:
Thanks for your kind words.
I think that econ has something to say about bad habits: drugging, overeating, boozing, being lazy, etc.
Take overeating. Right now, I want to lose weight. But, later, I eat ice cream, knowing full well that this will lead to a weight gain. How is this reconciled? Right now, I’m not eating ice cream. I’m typing my response to you. So, I rank losing weight higher than eating ice cream. But later on, when I eat the ice cream, my preferences have changed. Even as I gobble down this treat, knowing it will put the poundage on, my ranking is then: ice cream, #1, losing weight, #2.
Now, you might say that losing weight is my long run goal, while eating ice cream is only short run, and therefore less important. But I don’t think there’s anything in all of Austrian economics that can support that contention.
Best regards,
Walter
4:13 am on November 23, 2020
