ANTI-CAPITALISTIC MENTALITY, THE (Lib Works Ludwig Von Mises PB) | LUDWIG VON MISES

ANTI-CAPITALISTIC MENTALITY, THE (Lib Works Ludwig Von Mises PB) | LUDWIG VON MISES | He pulls no punches

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ANTI-CAPITALISTIC ...

	ANTI-CAPITALISTIC MENTALITY, THE (Lib Works Ludwig Von Mises PB) LUDWIG VON MISES Liberty Fund Inc., 2006 - 84 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In "The Anti-capitalistic Mentality", the respected economist Ludwig von Mises plainly explains the causes of the irrational fear and hatred many intellectuals and others feel for capitalism. In five concise chapters, he traces the causation of the misunderstandings and resultant fears that cause resistance to economic development and social change. He enumerates and rebuts the economic arguments against and the psychological and social objections to economic freedom in the form of capitalism. Written during the heyday of twentieth-century socialism, this work provides the reader with lucid and compelling insights into human reactions to capitalism.

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Spectacular.

Over fifty years ago, the famous economist whose career "showed that government intervention is always destructive," penned The Anti-capitalistic Mentality. This short book marked his official venture into psychology. We should be grateful today for its insight. His deconstruction of those opposed to free markets indicates that he had a far better understanding of humanity than do the majority of psychologists.

What impresses most about The Anti-capitalistic Mentality is just how prescient a work it is. The failures of socialism were evident in the 1950s but not as glaring as they are in 2008. Yet this truth does not prevent our politicians from continuing to push for more and more government expansion. The concomitant disruption and diminution of the private sector is discounted entirely. The experiences of Soviet Russia, the Warsaw Pact countries, and the vivid and ongoing failures of communist starvation zones like Cuba and North Korea are pooh-poohed by those desirous of further empowering the Leviathan. In light of what America has become, Von Mises' elucidation of the enemies of capitalism is more pertinent than ever.

It is the common man who benefits most from capitalism. He profits from those who save, who invest, and who engage in entrepreneurial activities. These individuals expand the economy, elevate wages, and employ him directly. More importantly, there are no structural barriers which prevent him from joining the ranks of such persons.

In the final analysis, to hate capitalism is to hate liberty as only within the framework of personal choice can one choose an education, a vocation, and course of life that suits them. The laissez-faire philosophy is what put an end to slavery and serfdom. Nobody born poor in a free society is destined to poverty. How ironic it is that so many anti-capitalists describe themselves as being "liberal" when there is nothing liberal about stealing the dreams and futures of those you regard as nothing more than wards or mascots.

Psychologizing proved a very elementary feat for Ludwig von Mises. His deconstruction and refutation of the anti-capitalist outlook was a noble undertaking. He flamboyantly paraded its irrationality for all to see over fifty years ago, but it is now up to us to popularize his forgotten, but exquisite, argumentation.

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He pulls no punches

Von Mises really exposes the socialist envy-mongers for what they are. He explains why so many people, especially the pseudo-intellectuals that fill a lot of universities and Hollywood entertainers with little or no background in economics, hate capitalism. It all boils down to envy - they don't want to take responsibility for the fact that they are failures.

Not only does this book provide an explanation for why people hate capitalism, it provides a good basic economics lesson. It covers a lot of the essentials about how the market works, explodes common myths, and critiques socialism, all at the same time.

This is one of those "must-read" worldview books. I particularly appreciated this book as a Christian libertarian (although Von Mises wasn't a Christian as far as I can tell). Regardless of your political persuasion, though, I would strongly recommend reading this book. Most people don't have a clue how economics actually works. Unfortunately, this means that most people aren't really able to evaluate the different positions on the economy when they're asked to vote on them in elections. People are forced to dissect thousands of hapless frogs in biology class, even though most people will never use it again. On the other hand, economics is something that effects everyone every day, and yet few if any high schools or colleges require it as a general elective. A lot of people, including a lot of supposed conservatives, are basically socialists in their actual thinking and practice. I would urge everyone to read this book if you want to be informed on economics issues. If you're currently in, or about to go to, college this book is particularly important for you because you WILL be confronted with the ideas that Von Mises critiques (take it from someone whose currently a senior in college).

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Great book and a short read too!

Ludwig von Mises hit the nail on the head in this book when he explains very clearly why anti-capitalists hate capitalism. It basically boils down to jealousy. So if you want a great read that is less than 100 pages and will leave you with new knowledge, then you should buy this book.

Envy or Conceit?

The Anti Capitalistic Mentality is Mises' attempt to uncover the driving force behind the socialist movement of the early twentieth century. As such, it should be seen as an alternative to Hayek's `Fatal Conceit/Abuse of Reason' hypothesis. Mises and Hayek agree on some points. Mises claims that "everyone is prone to overate his own worth and deserts" (p10). This is consistent with Hayek's Fatal Conceit hypothesis, but Mises takes the idea that people overate themselves inn a different direction. Hayek thought that intellectuals disdain capitalism because it offends their intellectual pride. Those who see themselves as the best and brightest cannot accept the idea that spontaneously evolved orders outperform any system that they can consciously design.

Mises emphasizes envy and resentment, along with the lack of proper economic education. As Mises puts it on page 36 socialists "are blinded by envy and ignorance. They stubbornly refuse to stuffy economics ... they pretend to trust only in experience. But they also stubbornly refuse to take cognizance of the undeniable facts of experience".

The main problem with this book is that it is too short. Mises did not develop his ideas in this book to the extent he developed other ideas elsewhere. Also, Mises relies too much on the notion that people hate capitalism because the market value of their wage is below their self-evaluation. People do tend to overate their own worth. However, it should be noted that even those who succeed often hate capitalism. Consider the following list of highly successful wealthy capitalism haters: John Lennon, James Cameron, George Soros, Stephen Speilberg, Warren Beatty, Ted Turner, Jane Fonda... These people passed the market test and then some. Yet they hate the system that made them wealthy and famous. Why? Lack of economic education might explain more than does envy. Who would they envy?

The Anti Capitalistic Mentality is still an important book. It explores vital issues that should be sorted out more completely. Since Mises kept this book brief, the task of developing this and Hayek's work on the motivations behind the socialist/interventionist movement will be left to their intellectual heirs.

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Strong and full of truth, but his definitions of "success" and "shortcomings" are questionable

This little essay/study by Ludwig Von Mises again reinforces his views on laissez-faire capitalism and for the most part is very strong: he focuses this work on how Marxists attack capitalism when the truth is that capitalism is responsible for the rise of the living standards and soaring of technology ever since the Industrial Revolution. He also makes a devastating point when he points to the caste system-esque rankings of the "status societies" that existed prior to the Industrial Revolution and points out that, unlike in th pre-industrial caste/status, you CAN move up in a system of capitalism.

Which leads me to the reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5: he seems to state that if you are lower on the capitalist food chain than another, that the higher-up is automatically more "successful" than the lower. Here I'm confused as to what he exactly means by the term "successful": I'm not sure whether he means "successful" as in the free market has deemed them as more fit for the higher position than the lower man's position, or if he means "successful" in terms of actual "success" in terms of output of some sort measurable by empirical figures. If he meant the latter, I disagree that that is always the case. I have a feeling he did in fact mean the latter since early on he frequently attributes the lower status of various employees (of status ranging from factory worker to VP of a corporation) to his own personal "shortcomings." I differ with this view of "shortcomings" because I see their lower status (and the other man's higher status) not necessarily as a result of anyone's shortcomings at all because it may not be possible at all for the lower man to possess or attain the skills or level necessary to reach the higher position that the other man has reached. Now, I'm seeing Von Mises' use of "shortcomings" as meaning that the lower person HAD/HAS a chance to obtain those skills/etc., but it's likely I misunderstood this and he is speaking of all shortcomings no matter whether the lower man can achieve them or not. I probably erred.

But the long and the short of this is that this paper excellently expands on Von Mises' beliefs of the laissez-faire capitalist system as well as his views on Marxism and Leninism.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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