If you have ever read much of the political philosophy and commentary of renowned anarchosyndicalist intellectual Noam Chomsky, then you are probably familiar with his view that large private business organizations are “private tyrannies” — oversized and antidemocratic institutions that function according to that most hated of organizational
On February 7, 2009, and in the week that followed, bushfires ignited across Victoria, in Australia. [1] The fires raged through many towns, destroying at least 1,834 homes, [2] and killing at least 209 people, [3] more fatalities than any bushfire in Australian history. [4] Let’s compare: in the 1983 “Ash Wednesday” bushfires, seventy-five
It is well known that the libertarian political philosophy is antagonistic to coercively imposed rules that limit people’s freedom to use their private property as they see fit. Indeed, the very essence of libertarianism is the nonaggression principle that condemns the initiation of force against person or property. As a result, libertarians have
If there were a prize for the most boneheaded thing that one hears very frequently, it would have to be the astonishment and revulsion that is commonly expressed at the existence of discrimination. You are likely to have heard this horrified expression before: “It’s discrimination!” Heavens above! Alert the authorities! Quite often, this tiny
“We are used to thinking of peace merely as the absence of full-scale military conflict.” The recent Nobel Peace Prize awarded to President Barack Obama has drawn criticism from many commentators, including those who claim that the award is premature — that President Obama has yet to “make his mark” on US foreign policy. [1] Some have argued that
“The alleged right to freedom from discrimination is, on close examination, merely a means to allow the use of force to prevent people from using all available information in their judgments of others.” One of the most effective ways to destroy a concept is through the process of conceptual inflation: First, expand the ambit of the concept to
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.