Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Libertarianism in Ancient China by Murray N. Rothbard

From the amazing Rothbard, find the time to listen to this 17 minute report on libertarians in Ancient China. Completely fascinating.


3 comments:

  1. Unfortunately, Daoism doesn't seem like a strong force in China as seen in its history of having strong rulers. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to withdraw from the public square?

    If you read about communist China you will understand that the state periodically switched from Legalism, which was brute force in a Leninist sense, to Confucianism which was utilized to motivate people to support the communist regime and it's goals.

    If there is a resurgence in Daoism, that part of the world will be much better off.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interestingly, Rothbard (and others from comments) in Taiwan and China:
    http://archive.mises.org/15486/rothbard-in-taiwan/

    some of his books are also available from the Chinese amazon.cn


    http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2012/10/zhang-weiyang-on-austro-chinese-business-cycle-theory.html
    Zhang Weiying on Austro-Chinese business cycle theory

    "Chinese officials no longer treat Mr. Zhang as a pariah. He reports that Ministry of Agriculture officials tell him they enjoy reading his articles. Other ministries and local governments, including in Henan and Liaoning provinces, invite him to speak. He says that when he recently wrote an article praising the late Austrian economist Murray Rothbard, the Communist Party secretary of Shanghai—a fairly high-level apparatchik—told him he liked it."

    "We human beings always seek happiness," says Mr. Zhang. "Now there are two ways. You make yourself happy by making other people unhappy—I call that the logic of robbery. The other way, you make yourself happy by making other people happy—that's the logic of the market. Which way do you prefer?"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great article on Taoism and anarchy:
    http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/gillespie/gillespie1.html

    ReplyDelete