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WSJ.com - Von Mises Finds A Sweet Home In Alabama

online.wsj.com — "Growing up next door in Georgia," writes Kyle Wingfield, "I never thought of Alabama as a beacon of intellect.... It wasn't until I moved to Europe a couple of years ago that I realized the Heart of Dixie was also the heart of sensible economic thinking." The Wall Street Journal discovers the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

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  • CurtHowland, on 10/12/2007, -4/+34The "kill app" of the Mises Institute is its online publications. Not just the daily articles, but the full books available to anyone who wants to read them, like _Human Action_.

    Audio files of recent and archived lectures on every economics subject I can think of, the video file archives are growing too.

    There are not many sources for reasonable, rational discussions of anarchy of the non-bomb-throwing type. For that matter, chaos (anarchy of the bomb throwing type, as it were) is addressed, as the destructive and un-profitable exercise it is.

    Reading _Sailing the Wine Dark Sea_ by Thomas Cahill, he points out that the Greek civilization hosted the longest period of constant re-evaluation of civilization and culture that has been seen. No subject was beyond contemplation, even if, as with Socrates, putting the truth before Athens meant that would be the very last thing one would do.

    The Mises Institute constantly re-evaluates, re-examines. As has been said, "Ludwig von Mises was not a Misian." Even the works of the institutes namesake are not beyond questioning, beyond correction. Mises himself rejected literal "anarchy" as undesirable, while his insights constantly pointed to the beneficial nature of 100% voluntary interaction.

    Such an environment would be devoid of anything that could be called "government", since by definition "government" is the institution which maintains the "legitimate" power to initiate coercive action against others. Without that legitimacy, there is no taxation, no regulation, no territorial monopoly. Literal an-archy, Rules Without Rulers.

    Fascinating. Let the nay-sayers say their nays, it simply means they haven't read any of the material. They ass-u-me.
    • lava, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3haha, digging your comment because you're correctly underlining book titles. I've never seen that in forum comments.
    • biffsputnik, on 10/12/2007, -18/+2Just check digging history of submitter & first replier, and bury as spam. The validity of the information at mises.org is not the question here, it is the future integrity of digg. Please shut down this digg astroturfing by burying this story and others like it.
    • argoff, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14Ha, this is great!!! For all those who thought that all this interest in mises.org was just spam on Digg and not a genuine counter-culture revolt against statist media .... Behold !!

      I for one welcome our new Miseian overlords. :) It's about time!
    • Narrator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I've been reading Mises for a long time. I think a lot of the Libertarian stuff, even on Mises.org, gets away from the cool methodical reasoning of Mises who never makes any emotional appeals but clearly lays out his arguments. Reading it has a calming effect for me, like reading CS algorithms books. The reasoning is so clear, so precise, so clever. Let me give you an example:

      "Acting man values things as means for the removal of his uneasiness. From the point of view of the natural sciences the various events which result in satisfying human needs appear as very different. Acting man sees in these events only a more or a less of the same kind. In valuing very different states of satisfaction and the means for their attainment, man arranges all things in one scale and sees in them only their relevance for an increase in his own satisfaction. The satisfaction derived from food and that derived from the enjoyment of a work of art are, in acting man's judgment, a more urgent or a less urgent need; valuation and action place them in one scale of what is more intensively desired and what is less. For acting man there exists primarily nothing but various degrees of relevance and urgency with regard to his own well-being."
    • Narrator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Ok, that was terribly self-indulgent. :) . That's the last time I'm going to quote Mises on Digg.
  • sp3tt, on 10/12/2007, -18/+20Oh great, more mises.org propaganda spam!

    [/sarcasm]
    • bigdavediode, on 10/12/2007, -21/+8Did you guys bother to read this one before your mailing list digged it?

      http://bigdavediode.googlepages.com/diggfixexposed

    • bigdavediode, on 10/12/2007, -21/+6Sorry, I should also put the thread your mailing list guys took over and spammed with endless defense of your other spam:

      http://www.digg.com/politics/EXPOSED_Why_You_See_So_Many_Crap_Mises_org_Articles_On_Digg_EXPOSED

    • Anarchrist, on 10/12/2007, -5/+21I wasn't going to digg this, but since little dave diode is all upset over it I did. I may have to add him to my friends list so I can keep track of all his excellent comments.
    • bigdavediode, on 10/12/2007, -17/+6Just want to keep people informed as to what you guys do on your "let's fix Digg" mailing list, such as post five links at a time to digg up, not reading the posts that you guys digg up, and taking over threads to try and argue that spamming is your right and what Digg is for. It isn't.
    • Yorn, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16Awwww... Somebody's upset that socialists haven't gotten together to digg articles to the front page. :( :( :(

      Just kidding. I don't know what your political beliefs are, but there is no great anti-government cabal than the Libertarians (except maybe anarchists, which, by their very nature, are not likely to organize enough to do so). If the Libertarians are posting stuff here and digging it, it's up to you to determine if it is worth it. If not, then flag it as spam or filter out anything with the words "mises" or "liberty" in it. I'm sure the Bush whitehouse does the same.
    • ilyag, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6bigdavediode, sorry you're being modded down for linking to that site. I'm borderline-Libertarian myself, but even I consider these spammers to be the scum of Digg. Thanks for the link. Pretty damning evidence there.

      I encourage everyone to mark mises.org articles as spam unless these submissions slow the hell down. With enough "spam" votes, the domain name will reportedly be automatically blocked by Digg from getting any future articles submitted.

      To the Libertarian Digg users: I enjoy reading your comments in various discussions here on Digg (since I agree with many of your political and economic beliefs). But you have to understand that ANY organized attempt to get ANY content promoted to the front page of this site is severely frowned upon by the Digg community. It may not be against the website's rules (which I know you cite as the reason for doing it), but it's still considered to be immoral here.

      What you're doing here is, quite frankly, disgusting. Stop. Please, just STOP. Do you WANT to be known collectively as a bunch of filthy spammers? Because that's what's happening right now. Whether you realize it or not, or however you try to rationalize it, you ARE spammers.
    • mighty_mouth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8"But you have to understand that ANY organized attempt to get ANY content promoted to the front page of this site is severely frowned upon by the Digg community. It may not be against the website's rules (which I know you cite as the reason for doing it), but it's still considered to be immoral here."

      That is not correct. I have seen links pointing to digg submissions and named things such as 'digg this page' on many websites. Those are certainly organized attempts to get content promoted, but they are also certainly not 'immoral'.

      In case you are not familiar with what I am referring to, you may find an example at the page below:

      http://digg.com/software/Put_a_live_Digg_button_on_your_website

      In fact, digg itself even provides facilities that make it easy to link to digg submissions.

      Linking to digg submissions is not unethical.
    • RyanChappell, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Mighty Mouth, Basically there is a strong dislike for spam. Spam being loosely defined as repetitive postings or unwelcome marketing. There are a lot of users here that will not welcome the Liberatarian POV.

      Shoving your agenda down their throats on the front page every day will not be welcomed here!

      What you should do is use your mechinism to promote a well timed, well selected story, that the intellectials here will accept. Otherwise don't be surprised if your content is rejected in the future.

      'digg this page' is a marketing campaing to get more users and does not create spam.
  • harumph, on 10/12/2007, -16/+12anyone ever seen the seinfeld where elaine's boyfriend won't shut up about some guy named carl farbmann? this is exactly what the von mises crowd reminds me of. i am sure i will get modded down for being too un-von mises-like.
    • KonaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16"i am sure i will get modded down for being too un-von mises-like. "

      nah, just for being irrelevant. *shrugs*
    • humanaction, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Never caught that Seinfeld, but did hear the story of the boy who cried wolf.

    • Yorn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16I'm not a part of whatever mailing there is.. I'd sure like to know how to join it though. I'm an ardent reader of mises.org, and enjoy many of the articles that appear on there. Having the good ones pop up on digg is fine by me.

      Also, it would be pertinent to let you know that both mises.org and CATO actually did articles about why a war in Iraq was a bad thing 3+ months before 9-11 even happened. They were writing articles in response to the "Project for a New American Century" and other Zionist/Conservative think-tanks.
    • sp3tt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@Yorn: To subscribe to the mailing list, send an empty mail to libertariandiggers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
  • akifbayram, on 10/12/2007, -7/+32 days, 52 diggs, and on the front page
    Wow.....
  • jonj, on 10/12/2007, -14/+5jesus, shut up already about this mises clown
  • KChambers, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3There is something to be said with this institute being affiliated with Auburn, yet the University of Alabama's economics and business schools are light years ahead.
  • honkyman5000, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I think people seeing 'Alabama' and 'think-tank' together is making them loonie.
    • Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3This week's issue at the Alabama think tank: Bud Lite vs. Miller Lite, The Eternal Debate.
    • Satertek, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Huntsville, AL would be its think tank. We wouldn't have gotten to the moon when we did without it.

      And I'll throw a WAR EAGLE in while I'm at it.
    • danielrh9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Here, here. I'm from Huntsville myself. Our defense and aerospace in the U.S. would be years behind if Huntsville didn't exist. It doesn't cease to astound me how many people neglect to do the research and realize this.

      However, there is something on the opposing end to be said of Huntsville demographics. It seems to be successful here, you have to either be an engineer or sell crack.

      And yeah, War Eagle. ;)
    • codyg1985, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Hmm, I figure it wouldn't take long to find someone crack a joke about Alabama on here. Typical of uneducated ignorant people that have never set foot in this state before.
    • danielrh9, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yeah it would be if it didn't come from someone who hadn't lived in Alabama. Except I've lived here all my life.
    • efriese, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I would rather those people think we are a bunch of rednecks. It keeps them out of our state. Alabama has its problems, but I've seen far worse in states that are not in the south. War Eagle!
  • EtaoinShrdlu, on 10/12/2007, -14/+1"Sensible economic thinking". From hicks, rednecks and hillbillies…

    Yeah, right.
  • Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2Spammity spam

    Sell your books somewhere else.
  • stimcaps, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1What ilyag said.
    http://www.digg.com/business_finance/WSJ_com_Von_Mises_Finds_A_Sweet_Home_In_Alabama#c2682413

  • tastypiesinc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Holy crap. Kyle Wingfield was my editor at my college newspaper. Now he's writing for the WSJ? That's pretty bad ass.
  • RyanChappell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5War Eagle! I hope the von Misers will be cool with their l-Digging and not go crazy with it. If the initial diggs that get these articles to the front page are individuals, then it is a legit way get stuff there.

    However if would be obnoxious and spam like to put a bunch of von Mises propaganda on the front page all the time! I agree with most of the von Mises articles, but I guarantee that it will totally backfire if they turn this into a daily spam!!!

    Digg users will not think positively of anything like that.
    • humanaction, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8RyanChappell, I thought you were killed in season 2 or 3 on 24?

      While BigDave and a few others are claiming L-Digger's are spamming, and promoting articles without reading, he is speculating. We are simply being more efficient in letting others know about the articles. I can't speak for others on the group, but I don't Digg (or Thumb Down) anything without reading it. Which is the exact opposite of what BigDaveDiode and his left-wing band of friends are doing. They have yet to make a logical argument against any of the points in any of the articles, instead declaring them spam because he sees so many. So you make the choice on who is spamming, and who isn't.
    • RyanChappell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Good guess! That is where I got the name. At the time work was so bad, that I felt like I had been wronged like Ryan Chappell. Season3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Chappelle

      I see your point, and still think your best approach is to limit postings, and go lightly, until you get a hang for the mentality here. Also, there are a lot of high school age geniuses here, and quick to judge gamers, under 30. A lot of know-it-alls! You have your work cut out for you, but there are a lot of conservatives in here, from all over the country as well. I would charactize the elite top digg posters as the west coast, under 30, single with lots of free time to spend here.

  • bryanedds, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1edit
  • bryanedds, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4BigDave, you remind me of a typical statist. When you can't have your way in a fair system like digg, you try to rig the system against your opponents. Instead of addressing your opponent's arguments with enlightening debate, you make straw man attacks against their arguments in hopes of getting the authorities to censor them.

    In the old days, you could easily get your way due to the relative high cost of mass information sharing and large government agencies available to censor dissent through regulation and bureaucracy. But this is the electronic age. It is no longer feasible to censor ideas using your techniques because of the horizontal and libertarian nature of the medium we are using.

    Why are there so many libertarians on digg.com promoting libertarian articles? Because digg.com, in terms of their policies, is a very libertarian website. Do not be surprised when free people in a free system use their freedom to advocate more freedom.

    Instead of flame baiting your opponents and mislabeling their arguments, why not pick up a book (or three) and learn some arguments that actually add to the discussion? In our new electronic age, you can no longer win in the arena of ideas through brute force and censorship. Libertarians have armed themselves with vast knowledge and stepped up to the plate to take a swing. But while we're swinging for the fences, people like you sit on the side-lines and throw ***** on everyone. I believe the modern term is "playa hating". Now it's your turn to arm yourself with knowledge and step up to the plate in the arena of ideas. You can either join the discussion, or you can not. If you don't, all we ask is that you do the gentlemanly and respectful act of excusing yourself from the field while the adults play.

    You can add to the discussion and make your ideas heard in the same way we are, or you can continue interfere with the discussion to try drag digg and everyone else down to your level. As always, the choice is yours.
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