Ludwig von Mises Quotes
There is no such thing as a just and fair method of exercising the tremendous power that interventionism puts into the hands of the legislature and the executive.
To Mises, “interventionism” is any government action that affects business and businessmen and women. In a large complex society, virtually every government action will benefit some more than others while harming some more than others. There are almost always winners and losers as a result of every government action. Most political philosophers see justice and fairness in benefitting the majority of people most of the time. However Mises and others observe that in a large complex society, in an absolute sense, politics and government can never be fair and just to all.
Ludwig von Mises, 1881-1973, Austrian Economist & Political Philosopher, Human Action: No Entry, 1949
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Since Theodore Roosevelt, the Presidency has become stronger and Congress weaker. The original idea of the framers of the Constitution was to have three co-equal branches of government. However Gingrich was so partisan on this point that he lost most of his credibility and lost his position of leadership in the House. He was constantly asserting the power of the House against Democratic President Bill Clinton while he never had when Republican George W. Bush was President. His house impeached President Clinton on charges emanating from Clinton’s sexual foibles and effort to keep his predilections secret. This not only impeded government for a long time, but angered the public. In the end the Republican Controlled House could not even get a majority of the Republican controlled Senate to vote against Clinton, much less the super-majority the rules required. Ironically, by the second term of George W. Bush’s administration most members of Congress and the American public had thought the Presidency had gotten to powerful relative to Congress and Gingrich’s objective became a national one, but Gingrich himself had been discredited and was completely out of office.
‘Necessity’ is another word that governments use in such situations. To deal with “National Security” governments tend to extend their power over individuals, encroach upon civil rights” and repress their population. This is true of right and left wing governments, democracies and dictatorships.
Though not very dramatic or succinct, this is a very important quotation in American History. The original drafters of the Constitution concentrated on limiting the powers of the executive—the role of the King. But the Congress had no limits placed on them. In Britain, to this day, the Parliament can do whatever they wish as there is no restraint on them other than their prudence and reasonableness. Madison used the example of the Alien and Sedition Acts—huge infringements on the rights of Americans—to show why the legislative branch must also be more restrained and limited. And that was the logic behind adding the Bill of Rights to our Constitutions.
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is best known for his work on praxeology, a study of human choice and action.
