I Put ANOTHER SPIKE Into YOUR Vein... Take #3

Today's spike is on Sociology, which is the Science of Society. Mises wanted to use this word for the Science he helped discover - but the word had already been misappropriated by that French "positivist," August Comte. Do read Hayek's The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies on the Abuse of Reason, which is all about that raving lunatic Comte. And his even loonier guru, the aristocrat Saint-Simon.


The true Science of Society does NOT begin with an "aggregative conceptualisation" of humanity. Rather, it begins and ends with YOU - as an Individual lost among complete strangers. When some stranger knocks on your door, you open and politely ask the fucker: "Who the fuck are you?" And as far as the ladies are concerned, it is always "strangers in the night, exchanging glances, wonderin' in the night, what were the chances, we'd be sharing love before the night is through."


Shopkeepers keep their shops open for strangers. Peaceable strangers. They do NOT open shop for their friends and relatives, or for members of their "community." This is why Tourism is the world's biggest industry. Nobody in Goa gives a fuck as to where the gora or gori come from: Iceland, Finland or wherever. Here in Pondicherry, I met a Chinese and an Italian dude in a Vietnamese restaurant and we engaged in excellent and stimulating conversation. So what the fuck is Society?


What we see around us, the crowds milling about in our bazaars, is best called a "catallaxy." It is this WORD that is the "key to an Open Society" - and I wrote a brief column on this, which is available here.

Nehruvian Socialists of the CONgress believe State, Society and Party are all ONE - and, moreover, all three are fused in the person of their hereditary Chief. This is how all us INDIVIDUALS got fucked. Their Sociology, like their Socialism, their Central Planning, and their "Indian Economics" - these are all what Hayek called an "abuse of reason." 

Give me "drug abuse" any day!

Now, to take the logic further, while we are all Individuals, of course, we engage in the "division of labour and fragmentation of knowledge" when we specialise in the urban market economy: the catallaxy. While doing so, we "associate" with other such individuals, and this is entirely beneficial as well as entirely universal. For example, here in Pondicherry, I live in an airy room in a small, clean hotel. Builders and architects have built it, the owner has furnished it, it is equipped with an en-suite bathroom, and I do not have to either clean the room or even make my bed. I drink a cup of tea here, a cup of coffee there, I eat some idlis here, some dosas there, and sometimes I enjoy a steak either here or there. Lots and lots of people "work" and even "invest" to keep me completely satisfied. Which is why they say, "one tourist gives rise to 12 jobs." All this is governed by The Law of Human Association, which I have perfectly explained in a brief column.


To encourage tourism, we do not need State-owned 5-star Ashoka Hotels. We have all that we need - particularly so in South India: cheap and clean hotels; and cheap and clean street-food. And much to see. Much to experience. What is required is good, modern buses on modern highways - for tourists must travel. What is also required is Liberty - so that local entrepreneurs are FREE to speculate and invest in what they think will make tourists happy. We have none of these things only because of our FUCKED-UP Socialist State. 


Further, these FUCKERS fuck all prospective tourists with their FUCKED-UP VISA rules and regulations. No businessman asks a tourist for his visa or passport. Just his credit card, with Visa prominently printed on it, is enough. We need to free up our borders - so that anyone and everyone can freely enter. Mughal Emperors called themselves "Jehanpanah" - which means "Refuge of the World." So if someone from Persia entered Mughal territory and settled in, say, Agra, he would pay taxes to the Mughal Exchequer. Free immigration was "rational" for him - it increased his revenue. We now have tax-salaried State employees all over the world STOPPING people from coming here!


Let us now turn our attention to Free International Trade.


It is important to note that The Law of Human Association is universal - and universally beneficial. For example, when I drink my many daily cans of Carlsberg beer, some coins clink into the coffers of a fine brewing company in Denmark. When I sip Finlandia vodka, some distillers in that ice-bound country have money to spend - on all other stuff except vodka, which they will  not buy. This is how the DEMAND for ALL goods and services keeps rising, all over the world. The whole world benefits. And I do too - because this beer and this vodka are most enjoyable to me.


The benefits of free international trade lie entirely in importation - for we import what is NOT available domestically. We export what is abundant here - things that we have enough of; things that we do not need. There is no need for any WTO "negotiations" over free international trade. There is no need for "politics" in economic affairs.


This is the Sociology of the Real Human Society - and it covers the entire planet in peaceful and gainful trade. This is the "good life." This is "civilisation." Indeed, this is the basis of all ancient civilisations.


There are many "international schools" in India. There is even an International School of Business. These should all be closed down. All that we need to be international is free international trade, and free movement of people as well as Capital, which will lead to the "international division of labour" and then The Law of Human Association will take over.


Heroin - by Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground, dudes.