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Title: The Myth of National Defense by Hans-Hermann Hoppe ISBN: 0-945466-37-4 Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute Pub. Date: October, 2003 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Neither Profound nor Ambitious
Comment: The Myth of National Defense doesn't make an incredibly strong case for the abolition of government provided defense. But the funny thing is, its almost as if it doesn't try to.
The first essay,"'The Problem of Security; Historicity of the State and "European Realism'" gives an interesting, although not incredibly original account of the origin of the modern state.
The best part was its discussion of the way the state's intellectuals invented a history of sovereignty. However, their calism that the intellectuals were dishonest shills for the state is unsupported and dubious in some cases.
The discussion of the "New World Order" and global government was interesting as well.
Murray Rothbard's essay, War, Peace and the State is an incredibly solid demonstration of the qualitative difference between weapons of mass destructions and small arms. However, people familiar with Rothbard's work are likely to have come across it already.
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn's essay on monarchy is possibly the best in the book. Using alot of historical facts, and some theoretical insights to put them into place, h demonstrates that Monarchy is far more peaceful than democracy. I had previously come to this conclusion, but some of his facts are shocking! His writing style is lovely and he demonstrates his immense knowledge.
"Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation or Monopoly?" by Bertrand Lemennicier is easily the worst in the book. Using mathematical game theory, he "proves" that as many eople as possible should have nuclear weapons. He concedes the fact that we would then be in more danger of accidents and nutballs, but he doesn't really take this fact into account in his analysis. I hope that Hoppe, who wrote a good defense of non-mathematical economics in "Economic Science and the Austrian Method" included this essay as a joke to see what nonsensical conclusions you would get by using mathematical economics.
"Is Democracy More Peaceful than Other Forms of Government?" by Gerard Radnitzky deals with the "Democracies don't go to war with other Democracies" thesis solidly, albeit not incredibly originally.
Joseph Stromberg's essay on mercenaries, militias, and Guerilla warfare is interesting, but very light.
Larry Sechrest's essay on privateers and private Naval Warfare is one of the best ones in this collection. It is packed with profound historical information.There were a few problems with it, though. I'm not sure how well this essay can be used as a defense of a libertarian state. The privateers described seemed to go after "enemy" merchant ships more than military ships (which didn't carry "treasure").
Jeffrey Rogers Hummel's Essay, "The Will to be Free: The Role of Ideology in National Defense" Is probably the best in the book. He satisfyingly solves a seeming paradox confronting anarchist thought: The fact that at one time ALL societies were anarchists, but evolved into states. Hummel convincingly demonstrates that this does not show that anarchy is inherently unstable.
"National Defense and the Theory of Externalities, Public Goods, and Clubs" by Walter Block is a very good essay with one proble,. He destroys the laughable notion of some economists that the state is like a private club. He also argues forcefully against the idea of a "public good". The problem with this essay is that its purpose is to show that defense is not a public good. He attacks the idea of Public Goods not on theoretical grounds like DeJasay in his book "Social Contract, Free Ride" (the best critique of the public goods problem) , but on the empirical basis of pointing out that most goods cited as "public goods" really aren't. However, he doesn't go to nearly as great lengths to explain how National Defense isn't. He didn't counter the public goods argument too strongly on a theoretical basis, so it won''t suffice to point out that other products aren't public goods.
Hans Hermann Hoppe's essay is pretty good, although alot of it can be found in his book "A Theory of Socialism and capitalism" from over a decade ago. However, one of his defenses of anarchy completely fails on multiple accounts.
He contends that Anarchy is peaceful on the basis that citizens of different countries are in a state of Anarchy vis a vis each other, and don't agress against each other. The obvious rejoinder is the fact that people are generally not in close enough proximity to members of other countries to Attack them. Also, its pretty obvious that if I went to Canada and started shooting people, I would recieve strong punishment from a statist government.
Jörg Guido Hülsmann's essay on seccession is another gem. He convincingly shows why seccessionist movements, especially those of a libertarian bent, should prove to be quite successful.
Despite many good points, the book barely provides a Prima Facie case for the abolition of the state monopoly on defense. However, there is a multitude of interesting information, and the book is highly reccomended.
Rating: 5
Summary: Down with the State's defense monopoly!
Comment: Economists that adhere to sound economic theory will inevitably take on many of the political sacred cows of our time. You can take a lot of heat from passionate listeners for stepping out against policies that are politically correct and advocating ones that are politically incorrect. For the brave souls that step out of line to do this, I salute you. However, there remain a few sacred cows that even these courageous individuals will not assail.
Hans-Hermann Hoppe in his book, Democracy: The God that Failed, took on several of these cows. He took on the ideas that the state is necessary for the production of defense, that democracy was a positive progression, that democracy and freedom go hand in hand, that democracy has no link to tyrannical systems like communism and fascism, and so on. He advocates in this book a system of natural order or anarcho-capitalism. In this system, fundamental private property law applies and the free market has assumed the production of goods that were produced almost exclusively by the state (education, roads, national defense, etc.).
Now Hoppe is back with plenty of assistance. The Myth of National Defense is an expansion of the ideas found inDemocracy:TGTF. The attention this time is primarily on defense. The questions "Does the state do its job of producing defense well?", "Will a free market defense alternative work?", "Would it be preferable to the state institutions?", "Is there any historic precedents?", "What are some of the potential problems involved?", "How can this system be implemented?", "What will keep such a system turning into a state?", "Could such a system adequately defend against states?", and others are raised and answered in this book. This does not mean that all angles are covered and this is the end of discussion. The idea of the free market providing defense is not new (this book is dedicated to precursor Gustave de Molinari 1819-1911), but you will be disappointed if you expect to find a large library of literature devoted to this subject.
Is this book for the casual reader? Not quite. Like Democracy: TGTF before it, The Myth of National Defense can only be fully understood by those who have a bit of economic knowledge under their belt. While this is a great book involving sound Austrian economic theory, it is not to be confused with good economic primers likeEconomics in One Lesson or Economics For Real People. Hopefully, we will see a book that covers the subject of the state and national defense in a way that is accessible to the layman.
One of my favorite essays in this book was Privateering and National Defense: Naval Warfare for Private Profit. Larry Sechrest shows how private enterprise being involved in national defense is not without precedent. In the War of 1812 and many wars prior, it was taken for granted that private ships specially licensed by their government to capture or (rarely) destroy the ships and cargo of the enemy existed. These privateers would capture merchant or military ships from enemy lands, take them to port, and (depending on the outcome of courts which examined whether ships captured were enemy vessels or not) sell the ship and cargo at auction. This practice was not always but often profitable for the ship shareholders and crew (who earned a percentage of the take). It also had the added bonus of being a successful form of defense. So successful that large nations with large navies feared smaller nations with privateers to the point of outlawing the practice via treaty. The whole essay is very enlightening to me. I had never heard of the practice even though 800 American privateer ships participated in the American Revolution!
This book is a great read and welcome continuation of the theories rendered in Democracy: TGTF. If you enjoyedDemocracy: TGTF, then The Myth of National Defense is a must read. Highly recommended.
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Title: Democracy: The God that Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order by Hans-Hermann Hoppe ISBN: 0765808684 Publisher: Transaction Pub Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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