Give us the teachings of His Majesty,
Oh we don't want no Devil's Philosophy.
We feel it in the One Drop.
The royal reference was to Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, and in another song, "War/No More Trouble," Marley quotes from a speech Selassie made at the UN General Assembly:
Until the philosophy
That calls one race superior
And another - inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned
Then everywhere is War!
Now, there happens to be a very NON-RACIST Devil's Philosophy the whole of humanity must go to WAR against today - a philosophy that went on to receive a Nobel Prize in Economic Science for its chief propagator, the Swedish trade unionist Gunnar Myrdal.
In his Asian Drama, Myrdal said that the poor people of the Third World were hopelessly so, unable to take "rational economic decisions" in the free market, and hence require an "intellectual-moral" elite to take these decisions on their behalf: Central Planners. Myrdal was hugely honoured by the socialist Indian State later.
Myrdal's contention is, of course, blatantly false. The poorer the people, the more careful they are as consumers - while the rich get easily conned.
And as for this so-called "intellectual-moral elite" - all that their intellects contain is an unholy mix of Keynesian "macro" with Marshallian "micro," which they call "neo-classical synthesis." There is nothing "neo" or NEW about it - the Keynesian macro is full of very OLD ERRORS, which Say's Law of Markets had disposed off in the 1830s; that is, over a century before Keynes. And since Say's Law is "classical," there is nothing classical about this neo-classical bull either. It is best called DISECONOMICS. All it prescribes is nothing but relentless CAPITAL CONSUMPTION on an enormous scale.
[Do read the many posts under the label Say's Law on the right hand bar.]
Now, there are kings and there are kings - and jazz superstars have been known for giving themselves aristocratic titles: Nat "King" Cole, "Duke" Ellington, "Count" Basie, and so on.
Ludwig von Mises was born with the aristocratic title "von" - but I strongly feel it is time he is referred to as Ludwig "King" Mises, for his teachings make it abundantly clear that ALL HUMANS possess the very same "logical categories" within their "trading minds," and that all State-appointed "national economy managers" - from central planners to central bankers, who are usually of the same racial stock in each nation - are able to continue to consume capital (which is "diseconomising") thereby perpetuating poverty, only because this Devil's Philosophy has infected all the "educated."
There are a few other variants, apart from Myrdal's particularly vicious one.
For example: You, the people, are the problem. If there were less of you, things would be much better - so WE need to control your fertility.
Another variant goes: Employment has to be "planned" by central bankers, by manipulating interest rates and the supply of fiat paper money. Without them, we would all be unemployed or worse. They are required to "boost" the economy, and "stimulate" it.
Feel it in this ONE DROP?
The Devil's Philosophy is that by which these people exercise POWER.
While the Philosophy of Ludwig "King" Mises is that which sets all of humanity FREE.
Here is One Drop from Mises:
In a free, division of labour based market economy, the burden of society rests on the shoulders of every man and woman.
In other words, since each man and woman is engaged in a specialised trade of his own, using his own specialised knowledge, if you need something, you go to one such - and enter into an act of consensual exchange to get what you want. Since the world does not end at the borders of your city or town - and almost everything sold in a city market comes from without - if what you desire is not available locally, IMPORT IT! The world is your oyster. And we have the Internet today.
Whatever you do, DO NOT GO TO ANY STATE OR GOVERNMENT - for, if you make this grave error, they will increase taxes, establish bureaucracies for the purpose of giving you what you asked for, and then, THEY WILL BE A BURDEN ON YOU!
This means EVERYTHING MUST BE PRIVATELY PROVIDED - electricity, buses, tramways, water - everything. Otherwise, you will forever be saddled with losses, bureaucracies, and SHORTAGES as well. As one wise man put it, "If you give the Sahara Desert to the government, there will be a shortage of sand in five years."
Thus, when all the editors and other opinion makers agreed with the idea of State Education, the "education tax" followed, as did the educRATS of the bureaucracy to decide on curricula, give approvals and licenses, and all that.
Their Evil Purpose: To destroy minds with the Devil's Philosophy.
(I alone dissented.)
Thus, the FALSE "right to education" - which is also listed under the 45 or more "Human Rights" declared to be "universal" by the UN - has led to taxation, coercion (the education is "compulsory"), a big budget, and a huge bureaucracy that hires "teachers" by the million, and spending billions on it all.
But the records show these teachers never teach; they are always "absent from class."
How then do you "claim" this right when the "obligation" to actually "educate" you does not exist?
I discussed the difference between LIBERTIES and these useless RIGHTS yesterday.
I also discussed what "collective security" implies.
Today, as usual, the business papers are full of NONSENSE regarding the pious intentions of the central bankers and finance ministers of the world - the headline in HT Business goes, "RBI to focus on inflation."
Funny, huh! Don't these editors, some of whom must be middle-aged like me, REMEMBER that inflation has been going on and on since even before we were born? The opening lines of my old column, "Funny Money," are:
Inflation is not new. In my teens, Coca-Cola was 40 paise, a pack of Wills cost a buck and petrol sold at three rupees a litre. A beer was five bucks.
This inflation has nothing to do with either the demand or the supply of the articles of everyday consumption.
Rather, inflation is a disease that afflicts money, being but a gradual and continuous erosion of currency value.
Since the government is the monopoly issuer of our money, we know who the culprit is.
We also know that our "eminent (Keynesian) economist" of a prime minister (who has also been governor of the Reserveless Bank of India earlier) carried out a "monetary stimulus" a few years ago - and this statement from a speech of his at Rio a month or so ago confirms:
Like other countries, we too allowed the fiscal deficit to expand after 2008 to impart a stimulus. We are now focussing on reversing the expansion.
Prior to becoming prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has served as Chairman of the University Grants Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and also as head of the Central Planning Commission - precisely the "intellectual-moral elite" Myrdal was referring to.
Leave aside his intellect - looks like "moral" has also been ripped apart by "coalgate."
The point is: These central money and banking "planners" are impoverishing the poor through inflationism, which erodes the value of their savings, their precious capital. Their friends who borrow from their banks - they gain, of course. So:
We don't need this Devil's Philosophy!
Now, the Teachings of His Majesty Ludwig "King" Mises make it abundantly clear that money emerged naturally and spontaneously everywhere in the world from the trading minds of people-like-us. Animal skins came first. Cowries were also used in parts of Africa. In South America they used bags of cocoa beans. In Egypt, scarabs.
We do NOT need governments to supply us with money.
We must be FREE TO CHOOSE our own preferred media of exchange. So, if you sell me something, you should be free to demand exactly what you desire in a "free and consensual exchange": for example, gold or silver or even copper.
The legislation that makes government fiat paper "legal tender" in yet another instance of VIOLATION OF PROPERTY.
Today, in India, inflation is raging.
Interest on bank deposits is falling.
Gold prices are shooting.
(And our inflationist The State is gassing about "pension and insurance reform"! You want them to look after your savings? Is this why you chose them as your "representatives"?)
So, THINK!
What do YOU want in exchange of what YOU have produced, with YOUR hard work and effort - which is YOUR PROPERTY prior to the exchange?
Obviously, everyone - and all of us have the very same, highly gifted, trading minds - would choose gold or silver. None would opt for the paper rupee - knowing well this paper will buy even less in the very near future, while the gold will appreciate, and keep on appreciating.
So, if you choose gold, your savings and capital will not be eroded in value, you will accumulate capital yourself - and as for banking, I have discussed LEGITIMATE PRIVATE COMPETITIVE BANKING here.
There is this quote from the Natural Order blog that says why the USSA went wrong:
“In 1970 an ounce of gold ($35) would buy 15 barrels of OPEC oil ($2.30/bbl). In May 1981 an ounce of gold ($480) still bought 15 barrels of Saudi oil ($32/bbl).” The Economy In Mind by Warren Brookes
At present, an ounce of gold buys about 20 barrels of oil.
The perfectly-elastic supply of money under a global paper (fiat) money system allows central bankers devalue the very currencies that they are charged with protecting.
If all paper currencies were destroyed, it would not change economic wealth. However, printing too many pieces of paper money will destroy wealth.
Again, let us all sing:
We don't need this Devil's Philosophy!
So it must be the Teachings of Ludwig "King" Mises.
And I will be his faithful and gallant Teutonic Knight - with the "von." And the snazzy Coat of Arms.
(Incidentally, Hayek shared the Nobel Prize with that excrescence Myrdal - and Hayek dropped the "von" from his name! Hayek also wrote nothing on "epistemology" - these logical categories each and every trading human mind is blessed with. For more, read this post on how I escaped a Heyekian error, thanks to the Teachings of Ludwig "King" Mises.)
So, let us ALL SING IT TOGETHER:
Give us the teachings of His Majesty,
Oh we don't want no Devil's Philosophy.
We feel it in the One Drop.
You can read "The King" himself in this post, extracted from his Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, titled "The Essential Problems of Human Existence."
I have been a very big admirer of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and all the Rastafarians of Jamaica since the 1970s - for their BRAVERY in standing up for GANJA.
It is a SHAMEFUL FACT that none in India did.
And still don't.
(I wrote a weekly Ganja Column for ET Travel for one full year between 2001 and 2002, when I quit: Every week, one great tale of adventure smoking Ganja-Charas somewhere in India, or other parts of the world. Great cartoons of me smoking chillums and spliffs on the MASTHEAD - all carefully preserved.)
Lastly, something about jazz from a recent post on LewRockwell.com:
The growth of the state and the constant stream of bad news can wear one down. We need a break from it now and then. We need to know what individuals have done sans the state, sans war, sans the government, sans it all. Agorism calls for withdrawing one's life from the state as far as possible. Creativity is one way to do it. Music is one way. It's not just about guns and stocking up one's larder. Jazz is a language. It's expression. It came from a spontaneous order. It shows progress over its history, undirected progress, but progress nonetheless. It shows what people can accomplish spontaneously without the state or government or subsidy or direction.
Economists often celebrate American entrepreneurs. Great. I celebrate an original American art. Both require liberty. Both came from liberty....
The people who made jazz often came from humble backgrounds. They had to work very hard and move around a great deal to progress. Show business is not an easy business. They worked hard as individuals and in cooperation with others socially. Their stories are frequently inspiring. And frequently they involve drugs and heartbreaks. There are some of these great artists who were jailed for drugs. There are some who were beaten up by police, and by racist police. There were many who lived through segregation and had problems performing in their own land, America. Many went to Europe.
Bob Marley was born and raised in the shanties of Trenchtown, Jamaica.
He "created a culture." And pioneered reggae music that went with it. He became the first "Third World Superstar" - and his "rebel music" rocked the planet.
There is no song ever written and performed as rebellious as Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff" - and I am extremely proud to have not one, not two, not three, but FOUR versions of it on the right-hand bar of this blog, all of them YouTube videos of live performances by Eric Clapton.
