For Streets Named After Mises

The dynastic-socialist CONgress is about to re-elect Sonia Gandhi as their chairman - and, in the meanwhile, news has it that a street has been named after Ludwig von Mises in a small town in Calabria, Italy. Mises was the one economist of the 20th century who disproved all the extravagant claims of socialism. His disproofs were strictly based on the Science of Economics - for Mises was a true scientist. The science he practised was "value free" - what he called wertfrei - so it is not that Mises upheld Liberty as a supreme value; rather, it was the Science of Economics that consistently proved beyond doubt that Socialism and Interventionism would always fail; and that laissez faire was the best policy for any State that desired the progress of civilization.

Mises proved that whereas the aims and purposes of the socialists and interventionists might seem noble, the actual effects of the policies they advocated would be the very opposite. They would always fail. The effects would be perverse. Or, to put it another way: Socialists too desired a more prosperous society - but Socialism would only produce more and more poverty. As a T-shirt goes: "The only thing Socialism has done for Poor People is give them lots and lots of Company."

This, indeed, has been India's experience - and, after the limited reforms of 1991, we have all come to see what The Market can achieve. Today, even the much hated multinational corporation is seen as something "good." None can deny the enormous benefits MNCs have provided India and Indians in areas such as automobiles and telecom. We must proceed boldly and quickly on the path of The Market. Yet, the CONgress remains tied down to socialist objectives - now disguised as "welfare." Even the Supreme Court of India has recently held that "India is a socialist country" - and you might have read my brief post on that.

In my frank opinion, there is no hope whatsoever for India under such socialist politics. The task ahead for all who believe in Capitalism is to study Mises, study Bastiat, study Adam Smith, Hayek, Bauer, Rothbard, Hoppe - and energetically engage public opinion. It is ultimately public opinion that holds up any political order. We in India are fortunate that "politicians" of the CONgress like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Chacha never engage public opinion at all. This is very unlike their forbears, Nehru and Gandhi, who wrote a lot.

To conclude: When I was young, one of the great books I read was Anthony Sampson's Anatomy of Britain. In this book, Sampson calls the free press of Britain a "para-parliament." Those who believe in Capitalism must enter the para-parliament of the free press through all the means available today - which also includes self-publishing means like blogs. In this manner, someday in the future, socialism in India will surely collapse, as Mises proved it would. I long for that glorious day. May there be many streets named after Mises in India.