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From: mck@ratex.UUCP (Daniel Kian Mc Kiernan)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.philosophy
Subject: Socialism
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Date: Fri, 18-Jan-85 18:15:01 EST
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Posted: Fri Jan 18 18:15:01 1985
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This is a re-posting; the original vanished mysteriously.

     By the way, in case anyone is interested, Socialist economics were
completely blown out of the water several decades ago by Ludwig Edler von Mises
(mentor to Nobel-laureat Friedrich August von Hayek).  When von Mises first
presented his case, he was actually PRAISED by Socialists (one went so far as
to declare that his statue should be erected in every Socialist city), who
recognized that he had pointed out fundamental shortcomings in Socialist
theory; they expected to develop a new, stronger, and better theory in
response.  But try as they might, they just couldn't do it.  In fact, no such
theory COULD be developed; von Mises had struck at the very HEART of Socialism.
Some (like von Hayek) converted to Capitalism.  The rest alternated between
ignoring him (abetted by the fact that von Mises, a Jewish Capitalist, lost his
academic position fleeing the Nazi take-over of Austria) and misrepresenting
his arguments.
     The most exhaustive presentation of his argument is his book *Socialism*,
which can be bought in quality-paperback for about $6.  If you look for it in
the library, you may have to look for it under 'Mises', 'von Mises', or
'Vonmises' (American librarians have trouble coping with surname-prefixes; and
matters are complicated because Austria outlawed use of 'von', so that some of
von Mises's works were written as 'Ludwig Mises' -- but you should see what
they do with 'Eugen Ritter von Bohm Bawerk'!).
     Do I read Socialist writings?  Sure; my library has various works of Marx,
Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, and Mao, as well as less well-known Socialists.
Do I expect our resident Socialist bombasts to read von Mises?  Nah.

                                        Constantly disgusted,
                                        Daniel Kian Mc Kiernan
                                        9120 Hawthorn Pt
                                        Westerville, OH  43081-9605