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THE FREE MARKET READER
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Even in the early 19th century, John C. Calhoun described the United States as divided between the "tax payers and tax eaters." And today, we can use that same analysis. Ludwig von Mises called the battle between these two artificially created groups a "caste conflict," in contradistinction to Karl Marx's class conflict.
There can be no natural class conflict in society, since the free market harmonizes all economic interests. But in an in, terventionist system, there must be a struggle between the caste that lives off the government and the rest of us. To keep us from struggling too much, the government from our earliest days-trains us to be good little citizens: to salute and say "Yes, sir!" when ordered to pay redistribution, taxes, instructed how to run our businesses, told how to lead our personal lives, or drafted for foreign wars. And part of the training is the painstakingly inculcated acceptance of the government as "we." "Are we spending too much on the space shuttle?" some,
one asked me recently. But "we" are not spending anything. The U.S. government is. The government is separate from us, and almost always opposed to our interests. We do not have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We have a government to the people. And one important tool in keeping it
going is the lie.
LLEWELLYN H. ROCKWELL, JR - Personal Name
1st Edition
0-945466-02-1
NONE
THE FREE MARKET READER
Economics
English
The Ludwig von Mises Institute
1988
London
1-402
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