I collect quotes. Over the years I’ve collected many that resurrect hope and evoke enough passion so as to convince me that this journey is worth it. While not every libertarian or Christian is trained or interested in the economic way of thinking, I’d like to share a few that I have collected over the past few years.

Although an unlikely source for Austro-Libertarians, John Maynard Keynes has a visionary perspective on the economist’s calling:

“To the economists—who are the trustees, not of civilization, but of the possibility of civilization.”

F.A. Hayek, in many ways the antidote to Keynes’s destructive economic theory, is more grounded in explaining its purpose:

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”

Art Carden provides a useful critique of planners who desire worthy ends but may be short-sighted in achieving them:

“The important question in social science is not really evaluating the moral quality of the outcome, but evaluating the institutions that produce the outcome.”

C.S. Lewis explains that the tyranny of man lording over man is the worst of all:

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive… [for] those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

Jonah Goldberg is even more succinct:

“An unwanted embrace from which you cannot escape is just a nicer form of tyranny.”

And Samuel Adams believed that liberty is spread by

“…an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”

My hope is that quotes like these circulate in the minds of all who love liberty, because F.A. Harper observed that “the man who knows what freedom means will find a way to be free.”

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Some Inspiring Quotes

And trust me, it is EPIC!

What an amazing exposition of Austrian economics ideas, plus some cultural criticism while we’re at it. The video touches on the fallacy that war brings prosperity, the pretense of knowledge, the failure of central planning, how laissez faire lets us serve one another better – the list goes on and on. I love the end of the video, when all the young people go to Hayek, while its clearly the banksters, media fools, and corporatists go to Keynes.

Congratulations, John Papola, you have done it again. You are a libertarian hero of our time.

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Hayek vs. Keynes: The Second Round!

If I decided that, far from being mere wooden statues, the trees would be living, growing, dying, and dropping seeds to propagate future trees, I expect I would have invented some wood nymph or fairy to spread these seeds.

It seems logical that an entity that served to spread seeds to ensure a fertile growth of future trees should be designed with this sole purpose, and would accomplish it with great efficiency.  I suspect I would think of an entity that felt a sense of responsibility, obligation, mission and purpose to propagate the forest.

But what did the Creator settle on as the keeper of the forest?  A fuzzy little creature that is as unpredictable as it is unlikely to serve any valuable purpose.  Squirrels, frantically scurrying and hopping from branch to branch, seeking nothing but their own ends, entirely unconscious of the need for seeds to be spread, are yet the tool that spreads them and thus perpetuates the beauty and function of the forest.

By seeking only their own, limited, animal self-interest these squirrels are unwittingly stewarding the forest and ensuring the livelihood of squirrels and trees present and future in so doing.  The creator put in them a desire to eat, chase, and play in pursuit of their self-preservation.  He did not put in them reason, nor compassion for the woods, nor a sense of duty to the trees.  He relied on their self-interest to create and result in ends entirely not of their design, but to their and the earth’s mutual advantage.

Why then is it so hard to see this same pattern everywhere we look?  The examples among plants and animals are too numerous to count.  This same pattern exists in the beautiful coordination of human affairs.  Though we are equipped with faculties greater than the squirrel, at bottom we still can do little else but seek our own fulfillment and preservation.  This motivation, if enlightened and not short-sighted, is not bad or something to be overcome.  Indeed, it is by this self-interest that we unwittingly produce benefits to ourselves and all mankind greater than we could imagine or produce if our efforts were more deliberate.

A creator that put in place a substructure that masterfully and effortlessly coordinates the billions of disparate plans of man and animals to our mutual advantage and flourishing is a great creator indeed.  No firm hand is needed to guide, direct, scold or manipulate our actions to what is good for his creation.  Instead we are free to pursue our dreams and allow the invisible hand to make space for them in the universe; to let the wake of our efforts be the very signal and catalyst for the pursuits of others.  The universe not only expands to accommodate our efforts and desires, but the very process of this seeking and accommodation creates a byproduct that aids every other human in their own pursuits.

In peacefully pursuing your desires you are a part of the amazing process of co-creation and coordination.  Markets are not only efficient, but in a way they are the most natural thing in the world.

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Squirrels and Spontaneous Order

Libertarianism Today, by Jacob Huebert. This is one of my favorite new books, and is arguably the best explanation of libertarianism set in the context of the 21st century that we have to date. My review of this book is forthcoming…

Nullification, by Thomas Woods. The idea of nullifying Federal law at the state level has really taken hold in the past year, and Tom has done a great job of explaining its use in American history with this excellent book. Go forth and nullify!

Foundations of Economics: A Christian View, by Shawn Ritenour. Hey homeschoolers, are you looking for an basic economics text that you can go through with your high-school age kids? Shawn’s book is what you want. Easier than Human Action or Man, Economy, and State, and far better than that garbage you’ll get from Bob Jones University Press. (No offense intended, but they really don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to political economy.) That being said, it’s not just for high-school students. This is Austrian economics at its best.

Faith and Liberty, by Alejandro A. Chafuen. A classic that every Christian libertarian should read.

Human Action (the Pocket Edition), by Ludwig von Mises. Make sure that Austrian in your life is never without some Mises. At $10, this version is hard to beat for affordable access to one of the greatest books on economics of all time. You can also get this directly from the Mises Institute Store. Coincidently, this is now the best-selling book at the Mises Institute of all time!

Disciple of Liberty, by Jason Rink. Many of our Christian friends are beginning to realize the corrupt nature of Government, and Jason’s short book really helps people to understand that being “conservative” doesn’t cut it. Plus, you can now get the ebook version for FREE until the end of 2010. How about that? (Note: You won’t find this on Amazon.) Check out my review of Jason’s book and see what you think.

The Road to Serfdom, by F.A. Hayek. Hayek’s works have surged in popularity over the last year, and this seminal work should be on every libertarian’s bookshelf.

How an Economy Grows, and Why it Crashes, by Peter Schiff. This book is great to give your friends who don’t understand what’s going on with the economy these days. Schiff explains how the market works in a way that everyone can enjoy, using humorous examples and solid principles to teach and entertain.

The Kingdom of God is Within You, by Leo Tolstoy. This marvelous work by Tolstoy is gripping. To see why, read my review.

Anarchy and Christianity, by Jacques Ellul. French philosopher Jacques Ellul had a way with words, and in this book he explains how he came to understand that Christianity and statism don’t mix. It’s challenging, interesting, and actually quite short. Read my review here.

Bonus: All us tech-lovers have been curiously watching the ebook reader and tablet computer wars emerging on the market over the last year. So if you are so inclined, don’t forget that an Amazon Kindle or iPad filled with the Mises Institute library and Christian Classics is clearly the coolest gift ever (hint hint anybody who loves me). You know, almost every book the Mises Institute publishes (and much more) is available to download for free as a PDF on their website. You could easily fill a flash drive with liberty PDF’s from the Mises Library and tons of classic theological texts from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library and Project Gutenberg.

Merry Christmas to all!

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Top 10 Books for Libertarians–Christmas 2010 Edition

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Fear the Boom and Bust: Hayek vs. Keynes

Your weekend reading: The Use of Knowledge in Society

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Happy 110th Birthday, Friedrich von Hayek