![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Ask Me Anything: the Answers (pt. 3)
Oct. 1st, 2009 07:33 amContinuing to answer the questions asked in the Ask Me Anything post, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
asim queried:
I immediately provided the primer Economics in One Lesson, because Hazlitt's classic (1946) is still the best common-sense introduction to the Dismal Science (so-called because Economics cared not a whit for the beautiful Divine Right of Royalty; no, I'm not kidding).
I started there because I presume that my mostly-liberal friends have no problem understanding my outspoken defense of basic human rights, which are still under attack (or are still having trouble being recognized, e.g. same-sex marriage). But what astonishes me is how many of my friends do not see property rights as basic human rights. Sadly less astonishing is the prevalent "let the government do it" attitude, usually for the best of intentions and for ostensibly pragmatic reasons. To them, I'd recommend "The Rights Retained by the People: The History and Meaning of the Ninth Amendment", compiled by Randy Barnett. Sadly, it's currently out of print, but I understand that a second volume has been compiled, so maybe it will be sold along with the first.
But to see these economic thoughts in action, it helps to look at a country which isn't ours: Peru, like most of Latin America, was saddled with Spain's mercantilist tradition, which was then allowed to fester without the British notions of liberty that were distilled at the founding of our country. Hernando de Soto's The Other Path was given a terrible extended title when it was reprinted in 2002; trust me, the book has little to nothing to do with terrorism. But it demonstrates quite rigorously what happens to all segments of an economy when it is organized and regulated by a central government bureaucracy.
Hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
asim queried:If you were to refer to 2 or 3 works to help understand [your] political underpinnings [...], what would they be?
I immediately provided the primer Economics in One Lesson, because Hazlitt's classic (1946) is still the best common-sense introduction to the Dismal Science (so-called because Economics cared not a whit for the beautiful Divine Right of Royalty; no, I'm not kidding).
I started there because I presume that my mostly-liberal friends have no problem understanding my outspoken defense of basic human rights, which are still under attack (or are still having trouble being recognized, e.g. same-sex marriage). But what astonishes me is how many of my friends do not see property rights as basic human rights. Sadly less astonishing is the prevalent "let the government do it" attitude, usually for the best of intentions and for ostensibly pragmatic reasons. To them, I'd recommend "The Rights Retained by the People: The History and Meaning of the Ninth Amendment", compiled by Randy Barnett. Sadly, it's currently out of print, but I understand that a second volume has been compiled, so maybe it will be sold along with the first.
But to see these economic thoughts in action, it helps to look at a country which isn't ours: Peru, like most of Latin America, was saddled with Spain's mercantilist tradition, which was then allowed to fester without the British notions of liberty that were distilled at the founding of our country. Hernando de Soto's The Other Path was given a terrible extended title when it was reprinted in 2002; trust me, the book has little to nothing to do with terrorism. But it demonstrates quite rigorously what happens to all segments of an economy when it is organized and regulated by a central government bureaucracy.
Hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
