The era of true anti-intellectualism arrives not when intellectuals have to dread the stupidity of simpletons, but when simpletons have to dread the stupidity of intellectuals.
Author: Jakub B. Wiśniewski
“You are what you value. I value: individual liberty, economic common sense, logical rigour, clarity of thought, intellectual integrity and quiet charity.”
Plain Old Free Market Capitalism and its Parodies
“Sustainable capitalism” means imposed stagnation, the elimination of creative destruction, and permanent Keynesian feudalism. “Inclusive capitalism” means degrading paternalism, ideological intimidation, and the demand for strict collaboration with one’s self-proclaimed political overlords. “Stakeholder capitalism” means the suppression of entrepreneurial independence and permanent regime uncertainty for businesspeople who abhor cronyism.
Values and Principles Against Ideological Jargon
The ideological jargon of hard totalitarianism aims at the subversion of values, while the ideological jargon of soft totalitarianism aims at the reduction of values to self-indulgent mush.
Today May Be the New September 3, 1929
On the monetary front, we have a 12-year-old mega-bubble of fiat credit, stock buybacks, bloated balance sheets, and “infinite liquidity”. On the “real” front, we have a global economy with record forced unemployment, decimated supply chains, and whole industries on the verge of bankruptcy.
The Ongoing History of Civilizational Change
When pre-civilizations become too small for their liveliness, they give way to civilizations. When civilizations become too pleased with their greatness, they give way to anti-civilizations.
Infantilism: The Greatest Ethical Problem in Today’s So-Called Civilized World
The greatest ethical problem in today’s so-called civilized world is neither barbarism, nor totalism, nor nihilism, but infantilism.
Individual Liberty and Its Good and Bad Uses
A civilization treats individual liberty as a gift to be nurtured. An anti-civilization treats it as a nuisance to be eliminated. A pseudo-civilization treats it as a toy to be played with.
What Liberty Allows for and What it Demands
Liberty allows for recklessness, but it demands accepting its consequences; it does not repress vices, but it encourages the development of virtues; it tolerates diversity, but it excludes it from ventures based on unanimity; and it does not condemn self-love, but it flourishes in the love of one’s neighbor.
On the Crucial Role of Unobvious Virtues
When it turns out that the greatest enemy of truth is not falsehood, but gibberish, it turns out that the greatest intellectual virtue is not deductive brilliance or factual erudition, but common sense.
Word, Action, and Entrepreneurship
I attempt to demonstrate that the Mengerian-Misesian tradition offers unique insights into the logic of communicative rationality by emphasizing and exploring its indispensable associations with the logic of action.