Plus �a change . . .

“The usual terminology of political language is stupid. What is ‘left’ and what is ‘right’? Why should Hitler be ‘right’ and Stalin, his temporary friend, be ‘left’? Who is ‘reactionary’ and who is ‘progressive’? Reaction against an unwise policy is not to be condemned. And progress towards chaos is not to be commended.”

Ludwig von Mises, Interventionism, An Economic Analysis, 1940

“The ‘progressives’ who today masquerade as ‘liberals’ may rant against ‘fascism’; yet it is their policy that paves the way for Hitlerism.”

Ludwig von Mises, “The Source of Hitler’s Success”

“When people hear the word ‘fascism’ they naturally think of its ugly racism and anti-Semitism as practiced by the totalitarian regimes of Mussolini and Hitler. But there was also an economic policy component of fascism, known in Europe during the 1920s and ’30s as ‘corporatism,’ that was an essential ingredient of economic totalitarianism as practiced by Mussolini and Hitler. So-called corporatism was adopted in Italy and Germany during the 1930s and was held up as a ‘model’ by quite a few intellectuals and policy makers in the United States and Europe. A version of economic fascism was in fact adopted in the United States in the 1930s and survives to this day. In the United States these policies were not called ‘fascism’ but ‘planned capitalism.’ The word fascism may no longer be politically acceptable, but its synonym ‘industrial policy’ is as popular as ever.”

Thomas J. DiLorenzo, “Economic Fascism”

“There are definitely conservatives who are more pro-capitalism than pro-war, and liberals who are more pro-peace than pro-socialism. On the other hand, there are those on the Right who don’t mind the welfare state, so long as it accompanies empire; and there are those on the Left who don’t mind bombing a few countries and trashing the Fourth Amendment as long as the government also provides a free lunch. The first kind of leftists and rightists should be working together to oppose the second kind, who always manage to be the ones in control of the state and its two parties.”

Anthony Gregory, “Down With Left and Right”

confessions of a literal mind

The wife hates it when it’s approaching midnight, she’s still grading papers after hours and hours, and I’m sitting at my computer chuckling and guffawing at shorter intervals and higher volume.

It’s bad enough that I’m enjoying myself while she’s suffering, bad enough that I have the lack of courtesy to do it in the same room, but when she finally stops to ask me what’s so @#$%^ing funny, she has to suffer through my attempts to talk past my own laughter.

This evening’s great fun for one of us and great irritation for the other has been brought to you by:

http://literalmind.blogspot.com/