Great question. A lot to still uncover but one comes to mind: anti-capitalism/anti free market rhetoric. My family are all a bunch of “socialists” and bred me to think like them. They have absolutely zero understanding of sound money and how it works. My brother still thinks confiscating and redistributing the richest peoples wealth and property would fix everything wrong with the US. Of course he says this without any acknowledgment of US government debt and how stealing everyone’s money wouldn’t remotely touch it. What’s creepy is how most people now believe this nonsense. It’s gone mainstream and I’m sometimes very fearful for the state of our property rights in the near future.
Discussion
Are you for free markets or capitalism? I didn’t think they were synonymous according to Adam Smith.
Bruh, I don’t even know what these words even mean anymore. They’ve been poisoned by propagandists to the point where they don’t even mean what they used to mean. My dad uses them interchangeably so my understanding is that they’re the same but I haven’t really taken the time to distinguish them.
But yes, I’m for free markets and people allowed to hold capital and do with it however they please.
Free markets means no government intervention. Capitalism relies on government for courts, property rights, and enforcement of property rights. Adam Smith warned that capitalism would easily lead to government corruption.
Capitalism according to the Austria school is the best explanation of the reality.
If you’d like to educate yourself (lecture starts at 3:20):
Heard it
Yeah the idea that a “just” society can be built on theft is foundationally flawed. That goes for modern “democracies” being built on taxation in general.
But now these fake democracies are failing at a faster rate and people’s ideas of a quick fix is just increase the rate of theft.
Most tax dollars are wasted due to bureaucratic inefficiencies and corruption (direct and indirect). Political representatives have zero incentive to spend stolen tax dollars in ethical or efficient ways. So the plundered capital almost wholly goes to waste. There is no way to fix these issues as they’re structural. Stealing more will actually accelerate the demise.
100%. People will have to wake up to this at some point.