I shared a few days ago a video called The March of History: Mises vs. Marx and I have been watching it frequently since then.
First I would like to state that I am not going to persuade anyone to choose a side here. I must admit that I was entirely ignorant when I first watched this video. It talks about some advanced economics subjects so off to Wikipedia I went. My purpose here is just to have a discussion about what economics is and why it is important.
In the video, both of them say things that are proven to be lies by other thinkers and economists. They certainly had a bold idea but the details of those ideas leave them both open to criticism. For example, according to Thomas Mayer Mises is anti-scientific because of the basis of his theory in Praxeology. Marx didn’t define many things and so his followers have several opinions of what he meant.
On the surface of a Western mind, Mises sounds like the one who is intuitively right. He beautifully talks about choice and freedom, but I don’t see it. I don’t see the choice of people who don’t have a college education and can’t get a job that pays a living wage. Or people who aren’t what society would prefer them to be. We are clearly in economic oppression when people hate their jobs but feel they have no choice but to do it. We see the great resignation now as part of that expression of being exploited by the wealthy.
I am not supporting Marx here. For everything in that video that feels good about what Marx is saying like socialism, socialism done wrong is causing the death of hundreds of millions in the past in China. I like the socialism of Finland, Denmark, and Sweden and they are the highest rated in happiness according to study after study. So clearly socialism has some importance.
I get why people are afraid of socialism. It was associated with the evil Russians and I grew up in the 80s when they were our enemy. It was the ideology that was our enemy never the Russian people. We don’t hate the ignorant Chinese people, we hate the CCP which pushes people into situations where they die if they don’t comply. That isn’t what anyone wants.
However, it is clear that capitalism is failing. Income inequality is growing, and urgent climate change is not well managed by us. The problem is that even though we have the money, we don’t have the will to do what it takes to have healthy earth and healthy lives. What use is money when in 2050 scientists say that the food chain will collapse due to coral reef collapse? The loss of fish will kill billions. War and the changing climate are identified by the Pentagon as the most dangerous in the future.
It is insanity to continue as we are doing. It is a crime what people in power are doing to the future. I am afraid that revolution will come from those who are tired of dying for the rich.