{"id":12165,"date":"2010-06-06T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-06T18:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=12165"},"modified":"2010-06-26T07:43:30","modified_gmt":"2010-06-26T14:43:30","slug":"the-first-word-in-free-enterprise-is-free-how-economic-fallacies-are-deployed-to-frustrate-human-liberty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/12165\/the-first-word-in-free-enterprise-is-free-how-economic-fallacies-are-deployed-to-frustrate-human-liberty\/","title":{"rendered":"The first word in “free enterprise” is “free” — how economic fallacies are deployed to frustrate human liberty."},"content":{"rendered":"

In a comment to my post on the NAR’s most recent attempts to rape the taxpayers<\/a>, Michael Cook set forth a number of subtle economic fallacies. I am not picking on Michael. He is simply repeating Marxist propaganda that is ubiquitous, more’s the pity. But I thought it were well to take these claims apart, to illustrate how these kinds of fallacious arguments are used to frustrate human liberty. I’m taking this to a separate post because the comments thread on the original post is already wildly off topic.<\/p>\n

So: Start here, quoting from Michael’s comment:<\/p>\n

The very capitalist machine everyone here loves was bolstered by the use of slaves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is simply false, not alone simply by definition. The first word in “free enterprise” is “free.” Transactions in a free economy are always mutually-voluntary. If someone is being coerced, what is occurring is a crime, not an honest trade. Every modern economy we can speak of is in some way a form of socialism — a criminal conspiracy harnessing the power of the state to advantage certain people at the expense of the others. Slavery is of a piece with this pattern, although it predates modern economies by many millennia. Moreover, it was the free enterprise that was suffered to exist under modern Rotarian Socialist governments that finally rid the civilized world of chattel slavery. To be fair, this miracle was effected not by a moral awakening but simply because slavery is a lot less efficient than is investing wisely in fixed and human capital. In any case, slavery and free enterprise are mutually-exclusive phenomena.<\/p>\n

History is wrought with takings back to the Egyptians, Roman and Greeks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The same fallacious argument repeated, only this time with respect to land and portable wealth. Theft happens, but theft is not wealth creation. Consumable portable wealth quite literally turns into shit in no time. Mineral wealth and baubles can retain their exchange value, but these are static values. It is not possible to cultivate stolen gold or rubies. And stolen land or livestock is only productive of future wealth by means of intelligent husbandry.<\/p>\n

Neither of these crimes — Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a comment to my post on the NAR’s most recent attempts to rape the taxpayers, Michael Cook set forth a number of subtle economic fallacies. I am not picking on Michael. He is simply repeating Marxist propaganda that is ubiquitous, more’s the pity. But I thought it were well to take these claims apart, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[251,24,212,29],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-big-mother","7":"category-egoism-in-action","8":"category-flourishing","9":"category-group-therapy","11":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1883,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1883\/the-peoples-choice-award-voting-is-open-vote-for-your-choice-of-the-best-renet-posts-this-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":12165,"position":0},"title":"The People’s Choice Award voting is open: Vote for your choice of the best RE.net posts this week","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The voting for this week's People's Choice Award is open. The short list is not short -- 24 entries -- but it's rich in quality writing. Voting will run until Monday at 12 noon PDT\/MST. The ballot form will permit you to read every article, but here are the links\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Carnivals"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Carnivals","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blog-carnivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2611,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2611\/just-as-a-reminder-the-theme-song-for-the-upcoming-bloodhoundblog-unchained-social-media-marketing-conference-is-i-wont-back-down-by-tom-petty\/","url_meta":{"origin":12165,"position":1},"title":"Just as a reminder, the theme song for the upcoming BloodhoundBlog Unchained Social Media Marketing Conference is “I won’t back down” by Tom Petty","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh, good grief. Normally, when the RE.net goes through one of these public breast-beating episodes, I just stay out of it. I don't read the posts, first because they're stupid and comical, and second because there's nothing that I'm going to say that's not going to fan the flames. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18230,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/18230\/overnight-news-if-youre-looking-for-some-privilege-to-leverage-arrange-to-be-born-a-native-speaker-of-english\/","url_meta":{"origin":12165,"position":2},"title":"Overnight News: If you\u2019re looking for some privilege to leverage, arrange to be born a native speaker of\u00a0English.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Even now, tho' we are not the America that was, it is the very luckiest of fates to have been born here. We wax and wane as pretend friends of liberty, but it remains that someone like me is unpersecuted, at least so far, which would be true in no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ya think it's easy?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/BHBNewTopImage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3285,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3285\/the-just-exactly-how-dumb-are-you-realtor-spam-of-the-day-inmans-non-ad-ad-might-be-extortion-but-at-least-youre-invited-to-help-them-betray-their-own-advertisers-for-a-fee-of-course\/","url_meta":{"origin":12165,"position":3},"title":"The just-exactly-how-dumb-are-you Realtor-spam of the day: Inman’s non-ad ad might be extortion, but at least you’re invited to help them betray their own advertisers — for a fee, of course","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This is what you will see if you click on a link to an Inman News article: First: What ad? There isn't any ad there, just a ransom note. Who's the hostage? That would be you. Inman is deliberately interposing itself between you and what you want, demanding payment to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inmanically Incorrect"","block_context":{"text":"Inmanically Incorrect","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/inmanically-incorrect\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1857,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1857\/unless-bloggers-begin-covering-school-board-and-city-council-meetings-major-and-not-so-major-crimes-serious-and-not-so-serious-accidents-and-fires-weather-issues-of-importance-to-the-few-and-to-the-ma\/","url_meta":{"origin":12165,"position":4},"title":"“Unless bloggers begin covering school board and city council meetings, major and not so major crimes, serious and not so serious accidents and fires, weather, issues of importance to the few and to the many and issues of little interest to themselves—all this on a daily basis—they will not provide the services now covered by the mainstream press”","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Damn straight. And it is pure agony to get a horse shod, too. The headline is quoted from a luddite's lament in The Age -- in Melbourne, Australia. Technology threatens the jobs of the farriers of our age, newspaper reporters, and there is nothing for it but to weep incessantly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18369,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/18369\/overnight-news-with-public-schoolings-self-destruction-kids-who-think-different-will-get-a-chance-at-an-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":12165,"position":5},"title":"Overnight News: With public schooling\u2019s self-destruction, kids who \u2018think different\u2019 will get a chance at an\u00a0education.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"So my wife cooks with the big ugly pans, and she leaves them dirty because she know I don't like for her to wash the big ugly stuff. But she leaves all the other dishes dirty, too, knowing that I can't wash the big ugly pans until all the smaller\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Group Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Group Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/group-therapy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ya think it's easy?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/BHBNewTopImage-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12165"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12401,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12165\/revisions\/12401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}