The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality

ISBN: 1610161335

Author: Mises, Ludwig von

Condition: Used

In 1954, after a lifetime of serious theoretical work in economic science, Mises turned his attention to one of the great puzzles of all time: discovering why the intellectuals hate capitalism. The result is this socio-psycho-cultural analysis informed by economic theory.Mises explores answers from a wide variety of angles, and discusses the nature of academic institutions, popular culture, and how vices like jealousy and envy affect theory. All play a role in preventing people from seeing the self-evident benefits of economic freedom relative to controls. His comments on the resentment of the intellectuals cut very deeply. Mises shrewdly teases the anti-capitalist bias out of contemporary fiction and popular culture generally.In the course of his narrative, he explains aspects of the market that have generally eluded even its defenders. For example, is it true that markets dumb down the culture, exalting trashy novels and movies over higher-brow fare? Mises points out that the tastes of the masses will always and everywhere be lower than those educated and cultivated to love higher culture. But, he says, the glory of capitalism is that it brings to every sector what it wants and needs, and more of it than any other system. So, yes, there will be more trash, but also more great work as well. It is a matter of availability: Under socialism, nothing is available. Under capitalism, choice seems nearly infinite.His is quite subtle in his analysis here and throughout. Its remarkable how his narrative applies in our time, even more than when it was written.The style of this volume is more casual than you will find elsewhere. In some sense, it is more thrilling for it. The reader senses that Mises has unleashed a lifetime of frustration here, and shined a very bright light on some dark corners of opinion.The contents of this volume include:I. The Social Characteristics of Capitalism and the Psychological Causes of Its Vilification1. The Sovereign Consumer2. The Urge for Economic Betterment3. Status Society and Capitalism4. The Resentment of Frustrated Ambition5. The Resentment of the Intellectuals6. The Anti-capitalistic Bias of American Intellectuals7. The Resentment of the White-Collar Workers8. The Resentment of "Cousins"9. The Communism of Broadway and Hollywood10. The Non-Economic Objections to Capitalism11. Ant-Communism vs. Capitalism II. The Ordinary Mans Social Philosophy1. Capitalism as it is and as it is Seen by the Common Man2. The Anti-capitalistic Front III. Literature Under Capitalism1. The Market for Literary Products2. Success on the Book Market3. Remarks about the Detective Stories4. Freedom of the Press5. The Bigotry of the Literati6. The "Social" Novels and Plays