EUREKA!
What SONG can possibly describe what happened inside MY MIND then? – for Mingus, Coltrane, and Miles Cannot Be Put Down In Words – but that, too, came to me – this morning – from “Windmills of My Mind”:
Like a tunnel that you follow,
To a tunnel of its own,
Down a hollow,
To a cavern,
Where The Sun
Has Never Shone…
A Stream Of Consciousness
For, The Armchair Economist Who Knows His Theory Only Has To “Look Out From Within His Consciousness” – and ALL is REVEALED.
So, dear reader, get into your canoe, or kayak, or raft – and you don’t have to row and row and row at all – for this Gentle Stream of Consciousness is Gently Flowing along anyway – and Enjoy The Ride!
It all began with my realisation that there were actually Many Gross Errors in Thorsten Polleit’s article – and these are:
First: Even to say, “Minimum Intelligence” implies MEASUREMENT – which is PSYCHOMETRICS – which is NONSENSE!
Second: When Polleit writes about an “inequality of skills” he is in Even Deeper, Grosser Errors – in the plural – for the very word “inequality” is INAPPROPRIATE – it Belongs to The Other Side – and BOTH the “diversity in skills” as well as the “division of labour” are DATUM – of The Senses – neither are Theory – neither have anything to do with LOGIC – and such Gross Errors – when combined with this Bad Word “inequality” – can scarcely be excused for an Adjunct Scholar of the Mises Institute, nor, indeed, can the Editor who published this under their banner be entirely forgiven.
So, let US “understand” everything in The Correct Way:
The natural diversity of skills causes each to “specialise” – which is why one chooses to HUNT, another to FISH, a third to GATHER wild berries and stuff – thereby each “developing” upon his skill, his “fragment of specialised knowledge” – and then, when they all assemble to trade-and-exchange their accumulated surpluses – with each knowing within their own minds that, just as his “subjective value” for his own surplus is LOW – while his own subjective valuation of the surpluses of the other guys is HIGH – it MUST-be-the-SAME with the other guys as well – and the WIN-WIN catallactic “consensual trades” follow – and, slowly-but-surely – Private Capital Accumulation Proceeds – and – VOILA! – we have CIVILISATION!
THINK! - one kid telling another kid - "Give me some of your chips and I'll give you a sip of my cola" - the kid with the big bottle of cola knows in her mind that she doesn't value all of it that much - then she supposes that, similarly, the other kid surely does not value his whole bag of chips too much either, and the other kid has NO cola, just as she has NO chips - hence, the so-very-clever offer-to-exchange - BY A LI'L KID! - and the "subjective valuations" - the Science of Economics NOW stepping in to EXPLAIN scientifically, what Adam Smith in 1776, was the FIRST in RECOGNISE in Man:
"A Natural Propensity To Truck, Barter, and Exchange."
We can also go One Step further - and "show" that BOTH these li'l kids "understand," within-their-own-trading-minds, the "meaning" of the "subjective value of the 'marginal unit' traded" - that BOTH "know" that "the li'l bit" that each EXCHANGE of their Own Surpluses results in INDIVIDUAL GAINS for BOTH - that what each "gives" is "less valued" than what is "received-in-exchange."
Now, I MUST use the precise scientific expression "marginal unit" - but, surely, all li'l kids in kindergartens worldwide can be taught - and they will all be happy-to-learn - such "useful knowledge" instead of nursery rhymes, games, and all those tiresome "activities" which in India today are called "timepass."
Of course, from Primitive Man to Civilisation – it is NOT really VOILA! – just as there was NO “Industrial Revolution” either – and it does take PLENTY-of-TIME – many, many, many generations – but the Archaeologists, the RUINS of Ancient Civilisations they go digging – these all AROSE from this Natural Process of Private Capital Accumulation – and as to how they all PERISHED – how and why they ALL now lie around in RUINS – there are Lessons from that, too, that I shall discuss at the end of this post – to WARN my readers, WORLDWIDE, in so many languages, that too – to enable EACH of them to THINK CLEARLY.
Continuing with Polleit’s Gross Errors:
The Actual DATA of “Economic Inequality” – when examined by employing the Correct Theory – well, what does it reveal for its Correct Interpretation – but that, the “subjective value” placed upon EACH INDIVIDUAL’s OUTPUT is something that lies “outside” him – and is actually contained inside The Mind of The Consumer of that Output.
This does NOT mean – within Modern Civilisation – that those with Serious Birth Defects, even – cannot PROSPER – or there would not be So Many SUPERSTARS in MUSIC who have been BLIND-from-BIRTH!
HOMER – he was ALSO BLIND! – and that was Ancient Civilisation.
Thus, The Correct Manner of Expression is as follows:
Thank Heavens for this Natural Diversity of Human as well as “Territorial” Abilities to Produce So Many Diverse Surpluses – so, “Hit The Road, Jack!” – and “Never Look Back” – be The Itinerant Trader – just like a nomadic herdsman of yore – keep buying where the Local Surpluses are Naturally Cheap – and then – travel to where the stuff in your saddle bags is SCARCE – or even UNKNOWN – hence, DEAR – and then, do whatever Your Nature makes you do – and Their Nature is not just “consensual” about it – but actually Very Eager – and EMPTY out your saddlebags in Their Markets – and then – fill them up again with Their Local Surpluses – Win-Win All Over The World – with a “Hi Yo, Silver, Away!”
And where the FUCK did that Tonto go?
Now, von Mises HIMSELF was Very Clear about The Importance of Precise Terminology that Leaves NO ROOM for Any Ambiguities Whatsoever – and Margit von Mises’ Memoirs of their years in New York, when he was writing in ENGLISH for the Very First Time – reveal that von Mises was visited once-a-week by a Salaried Expert in English Vocabulary – a “WORD-SMITH,” in other words.
Which is WHY “I” advise ALL who wish to STUDY his works – especially Human Action: A Treatise on Economics – to keep Two Good Dictionaries handy – the first, a Very Good Dictionary of Philosophy; and the second, of course, of English.
Anyway, last night, after jotting down yet another note on Polleit’s errors in Epistemology and Language – as I lay in the dark, SMOKING, and these WINDMILLS BLOWING IN MY MIND – I began this journey:
Like a tunnel that you follow,
To a tunnel of its own,
Down a hollow,
To a cavern,
Where The Sun
Has Never Shone…
The Old Tunnel I had been following all along took me first – from Epistemology – to AXIOMS! – and we now have TWO of these:
The First – that of von Mises himself – The Axiom of Action – which Nobody Can Deny – for All Jolly Good Fellows Do Act is the “sense” that they All Engage in these Acts of Consensual Trades – and The Jollier and The Goodier the Fellow – the More of these Consensual Trades GET FUCKED – by the Dour, Sour, and Evil Bad Guys – All Dressed In Various “Uniforms of Brutality” – and this, too – is SOMETHING Nobody Can Ever Deny!
The Second – which was “discovered” by Hans-Hermann Hoppe – is the Argument of Argumentation – and this, too – is SOMETHING Nobody Can Deny – because, while we do NOT KILL over differences-in-opinion – or in differences in Market Valuations, even – we DO Argue – especially WOMEN! – for, as a Very Good Woman Friend once told me, long ago, of some Wise Man who defined The Consumer thus:
"The Consumer is Your Wife, Stupid!"
Yeah! – WOMEN – in The Market! – as compared to Us Jolly Good Fellas – can and sure are HELL as CUSTOMERS!
ARGUE? – Nobody Can Deny This Second Axioms, either – Neither Us Jolly Good Fellas – nor The WOMEN!
It was while I was pondering these Two Axioms that – VOILA! – My Eureka Moment Arrived:
FUCK!
And “from the hollow” My Mind went into “A Cavern Where The Sun has Never Shone”:
Hey!
It is only because of Arguments between Individuals that the Principles of Law Arose!
Thus, Individuals with differences or disputes would "argue" - and then, slowly-but-surely - would "discover" all kinds of "measures" by which to "prevent" the recurrence of such disputes - by which would slowly arise all kinds of "procedures" - such as "contracts" - or even Principles of Law & Justice, as did occur among One People - which I shall discuss below.
Thus, in any "tribe" even today, the Old, Wise Man – still serves as the "judge" so to speak – in case his services are required at all – and it is he who settles disputes by applying Principle Garnered From The Past – which only he knows, because he is old – and All this Heritage of Law Worldwide AROSE SIMULTANEOUSLY with The Private Accumulation of Capital – along with the Progress Towards Civilisation.
Thus – the Anglo-Saxon tribes who petitioned William the Norman Conqueror, “We do NOT want Any Changes in The Laws of The Anglo-Saxons” – well, their Court Procedures till today are based entirely on Two Contending Arguments presented before an Impartial Judge – and then, stare decisis follows.
What else are "parliamentary debates"? - but ARGUMENTATION - as a "means" of "discovering" the "correct" or "just" or "true" PRINCIPLES.
Of course, in Other Civilisations – NONE of this happened in The Same Way – but The Axiom of Argumentation Cannot Be Denied Anywhere.
Argumentation – Law – Justice – Principles – and Civilisation – ALL go together – while, on The Other Side, is WAR!
It ALSO STRUCK ME – as I looked into this Cavern Where The Sun Has Never Shone – that herein are The True Meanings of BOTH “BODY POLITIC” as well as “REPUBLICANISM” – and hence, THE CIVIC SWORD!
For, what the FUCK is a BODY POLITIC but that of a Free City – a REPUBLIC – in which each-and-every Jolly Good Fella has not only “consented” to The Laws of that Republic, but also, like The Anglo-Saxon Tribes of Yore, DEMANDED that There Must Be NO CHANGES In These “Eternal Laws” – so, ALL these Individual Jolly Good Fellas comprising that Happy & Free Republic form a BODY POLITIC – RAISE THEIR CIVIC SWORD – and then, their Civic Leaders, Aldermen and Mayor – well, they come-and-go while The Eternal Law Goes On And On Eternally – with each of these Civic Leaders, during their Brief Terms in Offices Bearing Civic Responsibilities – also perform “The Dull, Dreary Duties Of The Aldermanic Bench” – while, before them, ARGUMENTATION proceeds from The Two Parties to those Occasional Disputes that require such a Mode of Dispute Settlement – for The Vast Majority of Disputes DO NOT!
Well, TWO other Essential Aspects of this Civic Independence – Essential for the Very Preservation of Any Such Body Politic – then Blew Through The Windmills of My Mind – and these were BOTH VALIDATED by TWO items in the noose today – about India – this “fractured polity”:
First-and-Foremost: Quite OBVIOUSLY – NO such REPUBLICAN BODY POLITIC can survive if there is ANY LEGAL INTERFERENCE from WITHOUT!
Thus, The Ancient Civic Sword of The Olde City of London was DISHONOURED when their Ancient Civic Corporation, in 1690, permitted the Legislative Monopoly of the Bank of England to INTRUDE into the Private Businesses of The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths – the Stark Evidence of this Dishonour being the Reported Fact that, till today, this Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths continues with its Annual Ceremony of “Testing the Coinage” – but The Lord Mayor NO LONGER ATTENDS!
It is THIS that has made THEIR Civic Financial Independence MEANINGLESS – and has actually PERVERTED their CAPITALISM – by turning it into Kapitalism.
The word “das” – in the Classical Language of the Indo-Aryans, Sanskrit – means SLAVE!
And Bill Bryson did write, with supreme confidence, that if a modern-day Sanskrit pundit from here were to travel to Lithuania, there to converse with a local speaking Lithuanian – BOTH would “easily understand each other”!
Das Kapitalism – is SLAVERY – in Lithuanian!
BODY POLITIC – means LEGAL as well as FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE – for any-and-every FREE REPUBLIC – otherwise – KAPUT!
Of course, NONE of these Free Republics can ever be HOMOGENOUS CLOSED “COMMUNITIES” – for the Itinerant Trader MUST be allowed FREE ACCESS to come-and-go – along with his CARAVANS – and my column (wrong date!) on what the word “CATALLAXY” means – for any-and-every such Free Republic as an Open Society is A Must Read on this “contentious issue” – since this is yet another “Source of Never-Ending Political Conflict.”
Lombard Street – the Very Name SAYS SOMETHING – about FOREIGNERS – and FOREIGN CAPITAL!
Peculiar – this ias MORON, c rangarajan, after retiring as rbi governor, used to air his rubbish in a Business Standard column named after BAGEHOT!
And it is ALSO in My Archived Records, that “I” FUCKED his views a few times – THEN!
Now that I have been “distracted” by this rbi ias MORON – let me quickly run through the TWO items in the noose today pertaining to India that only serve to VALIDATE all that I have written above about BODY POLITIC, and about REPUBLICANISM as well:
First: This noose that The Central State is “allocating” some Rs. 75,000 crores [1 crore = 10 million] for all the CLIENT CITIES and TOWNS of this First Indian Republic!
Like – WHAT The FUCK!
Second: Twin “contrasting” reports from Srinagar, Kashmir – the first that omar abdullah, their CLIENT chief minister says, “It’s a good time to revoke Armed Forces Special Powers” – a “CENTRALLY LEGISLATED MARTIAL LAW”! – and the second about how he “supports” the liberties of a local Girl Rock Band with His Police, AGAINST The Muslim Fundamentalists – not that they have Ever had any All Male Rock Band in Srinagar, ever! – but BOTH these go to show that these are nothing but SYMPTOMS of a DISEASE – a WORLDWIDE disease that has spread from LONDON to MANHATTAN to FRANKFURT and to our far-away shores as well – not to speak of the Mainland – or even of Mainland China – or Japan – WORLDWIDE.
REPUBLICANISM – CONFEDERATION – and then – SUBSIDIARITY – these MUST necessarily FOLLOW each other.
The Body Politic – is The Republic!
FIN.
Let me now go back to My Stream of Consciousness – to all that Blew through The Windmills of My Mind last night, as I lay back, with Great Jazz Blowin’ into My Head, SMOKING, and THNKING – this time, over what I added about the USSA TODAY in my final take on the last post of yesterday – about THEIR LAWLESS COPS, and about their SOLDIERS as well, in which I quoted HL Mencken’s DEFINITION of “The American Soldier” dating back to ever-so-long-ago.
Well, to stick to My Stream of Consciousness, let me faithfully just type out my long, handwritten note of last night – which FOLLOWS from what was added to my previous post late last night, as mentioned above:
And all this goes to PROVE that this weird definition of The State as a Monopoly on the Use of Force – in “practice” – ONLY leads to an INCREASE in “CRIMES” – for, the STATISTICS of “prisoners” in the USSA TODAY – which I termed “Born To Be Jailed” – to which we must ADD all those KILLED by SWAT Teams – plus ALL those killed in MAFIA as well as other Gangasta’ Street Wars – over TURF! – will Surely Add Up To A Very Small Fraction of All Private Homicides in the America of Olde – and then, if we COUPLE this INTERNAL LAWLESSNESS – which ALSO FEEDS their “Pork Barrel Politics” – to the USSA’s LAWLESS FOREIGN WARS and LAWLESS FOREIGN ASSASSINATIONS using “drones” – again, the very same Pork Barrel Politics, the same NEGATIVE-SUM POLITICAL GAME that is Modern “Liberal Democracy” – as “practiced” by its Worldwide Advertisement, its Poster Boy – one can Only Conclude that the America of Olde MUST have been a far better place, a far safer place, where ALL went about ARMED-and-DANGEROUS.
Let us now pause-and-reflect over – first, the EVIDENCE from LITERATURE, MUSIC, and FILMS on The Wild West – and then, the One, Singular Piece of Evidence that I shall present – from HISTORY:
Were not ALL the “outlaws” of The Wild West either loners, or duos – and NEVER were there any such GANGS, never were there any MAFIA “families” as suchlike.
Take Billy the Kid – or, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – take the fictional “gunslingers” like that far out character, “Sudden” – and proceed to the movies – all the John Wayne “Westerns” that none ever see anymore – to even the “heroes” of that Wild West – like “Wild Bill Hickock” – to hunters like Dave Crockett – do you SEE whatever YOU SEE TODAY?
NO!
Do note – there were NO COPS then; no Legislation; and NO STANDING ARMY, either!
There were “Private Bounty Hunters” – so, for Billy the Kid, The Outlaw, as Dylan sang, “Bounty Hunters Are Dancin’ All Around You.”
The Bounty Hunter – was a Good Guy – not a “hired assassin” sort of Bad Guy – and in the performace of his “professional services” he COMPETED – to Get The Bad Guy – and these professional services were only advertised for (with the “financial incentive” proclaimed thereupon having been “voluntarily contributed” by Local Good Guys) – only when their POSSE of VOLUNTEERS accompanying their Lone Locally Appointed Sheriff FAILED in this task.
COMPARE – then – and NOW!
FUCK! – is The Only Exclamation!
Now, for The One Historical Evidence of DECIVILISATION between then-and-now – and it is indeed unbeknown even-to-me HOW this Blew Through The Windmills of My Mind Late Last Night:
Hey!
What The FUCK!
History has RECORDED that That Fucker, Alexander Hamilton, was KILLED in a DUEL!
Now, DUELLING-with-DUELLING PISTOLS – Under The Laws of Chivalry – is SOMETHING for GENTLEMEN – when they cannot settle disputes by any other “chosen means.”
DUELLING with DUELLING PISTOLS – is Very Different from “Drones”!
The latter is COWARDLY – as with some asshole shooting Wild Bill Hickock “in the back” – something that APPALLED the Moral Sensibilities of The American Wild West – THEN!
FUCK! – again, is The Only Exclamation! – for Every American!
DECIVILISATION in AMERICA?
From Tocqueville’s Democracy in America?
Obviously – when you study the WRONG Frenchies – NOT tocqueville, NOT montesquieu – and most certainly NOT rousseau – it is Frederic Bastiat you ought to have STUDIED – but this Good Frenchman, Lover of Liberty, Law, and Justice was NOT “prescribed” to YOU – in YOUR “public schools” – exactly as in Vive la France – where he still remains unknown – which is WHY The French have gone straight through Five Republics already – and are YET to discover ANYTHING that has ANYTHING to do with either LIBERTY or REPUBLICANISM.
Why?Yeah!
THINK – what if any American Gentleman of Today Challenged ben bernanke or paul krugman to a DUEL?
FUCK! – c’est la impossible!
DECIVILISATION!
Simply because NEITHER WOULD ACCEPT this Very Gentlemanly Challenge to A Duel – and BOTH would IMMEDIATELY PHONE THE COPS!
And The Chivalrous American Gent – it is HE who would be JAILED – sharing his CELL with some Good Rasta, I’ll Bet My Bottom Dollar.
And I'll also bet the US dollar, first CORRUPTED by alexander hamilton, will itself HIT ROCK BOTTOM before I bet my bottom dollar!
Recommended readings:
1. Frederic Bastiat The Law (1850) + My Post Calling For A Sixth French Republic
2. "The Culture of Violence in the American West - Myth versus Reality" by Thomas J DiLorenzo (Independent Review: 2010).
3. The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier by Terry L Anderson and Peter J Hill (Stanford University Press, 2004).
So, the Lessons from Archaeology – which is also HISTORY – from which we can learn lessons for The Future only if we “interpret” this evidence of the Stark Fact that ALL these Ancient Civilisations PERISHED – by applying to this History the Correct Praxeological Theories I have already outlined above, while discussing The Gross Errors of Thorsten Polleit.
Now, even in Dilli – there is ample archaeological evidence of Seven Old Cities situated Right Here That Have All PERISHED!
The Rise, Decline, and Fall –of cities, as of entire civilizations – is UNIVERSAL.
So, I’ll proceed to put My Point Across From An Indian “Caste System” Perspective – which my Worldwide audience can then “interpret” according to their Own Local Conditions – of both the past as well as the present – but, always – For The Future.
If we Indian LOOK at this CASTE SYSTEM – what we SEE are TWO PRODUCTIVE CLASSES and TWO PARASITIC CLASSES above these.
The Lesson from The Rise of Western Civilisation – are that they TAMED BOTH THE PARASITIC CLASSES – And, what is MORE – they did so with LAW – and it is This Law that came into India in the 17th century – and, ever since, this Law has VANISHED – has been PERVERTED, in fact – both here-as-well-as-there.
The Pyramids – Who “paid” the TAXES for these Monuments to the Glory of their Dead Pharaohs?
Thus – if PARASITISM OVERTAKES PRODUCTIONISM – everything HUMAN shall INEVITABLY PERISH – so, I shall now sign off – leaving you with the Title of The Good Book of Victorian England - which is SELF-HELP by Samuel Smiles - its author being the greatest MORALIST of that Age - and this book known to have been placed next to The Bible on the bookshelf in every Victorian home - and THINK!
In the 1830s, The World's First Working Class Movement was For Unilateral Free Trade - and it SUCCEEDED - with SPECTACULAR RESULTS for the working classes of Britain - who knew that Unilateral Free Trade would Raise Their Standards of Consumption - which is what their leaders Cobden & Bright TAUGHT them - drawing from lessons they themselves had learnt from the Classical Liberal Political Economists of the previous century, such as Adam Smith.
WORKING CLASSES - Battled for Free Trade & Pursued Honest Hard Work - "The Protestant Work Ethic" - and they all read Self-Help - indeed, they "venerated" this book.
Now - WELFARISM!
Now - PROTECTIONism - for Trade Unionism.
How the FUCK did this ever happen?
IDEAS - its always been This Great Battle of Ideas.
I leave you now - with a Great Song - My Song of My EUREKA MOMENT:
