Democracy – The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order (Perspectives on Democratic Practice) 1st Edition
| Hans-Hermann Hoppe (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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The core of this book is a systematic treatment of the historic transformation of the West from monarchy to democracy. Revisionist in nature, it reaches the conclusion that monarchy is a lesser evil than democracy, but outlines deficiencies in both. Its methodology is axiomatic-deductive, allowing the writer to derive economic and sociological theorems, and then apply them to interpret historical events.
A compelling chapter on time preference describes the progress of civilization as lowering time preferences as capital structure is built, and explains how the interaction between people can lower time all around, with interesting parallels to the Ricardian Law of Association. By focusing on this transformation, the author is able to interpret many historical phenomena, such as rising levels of crime, degeneration of standards of conduct and morality, and the growth of the mega-state. In underscoring the deficiencies of both monarchy and democracy, the author demonstrates how these systems are both inferior to a natural order based on private-property.
Hoppe deconstructs the classical liberal belief in the possibility of limited government and calls for an alignment of conservatism and libertarianism as natural allies with common goals. He defends the proper role of the production of defense as undertaken by insurance companies on a free market, and describes the emergence of private law among competing insurers.
Having established a natural order as superior on utilitarian grounds, the author goes on to assess the prospects for achieving a natural order. Informed by his analysis of the deficiencies of social democracy, and armed with the social theory of legitimation, he forsees secession as the likely future of the US and Europe, resulting in a multitude of region and city-states. This book complements the author's previous work defending the ethics of private property and natural order. Democracy - The God that Failed will be of interest to scholars and students of history, political economy, and political philosophy.
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- Publisher : Routledge; 1st edition (July 30, 2001)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0765808684
- ISBN-13 : 978-0765808684
- Item Weight : 1.04 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.74 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #149,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #193 in Democracy (Books)
- #303 in Political Philosophy (Books)
- #667 in History & Theory of Politics
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Hoppe wrote "Democracy: The God That Failed" to make two cases: first, that government is an unnecessary evil that should cease existing and second, that monarchism is superior to democracy because monarchism tends to keep government's most unpleasant features in check whereas democracy exacerbates these features. Hence the transition from monarchy to democracy is a decline.
Hoppe's complaint against the institution of government is that it is "a compulsory territorial monopoly of ultimate decision-making and property rights violations". Analyzing this charge, 1: Hoppe declares the belief that private property rights are morally justified is the foundation of a free society. Everything the government does violates the private property rights of the citizens, hence government is an abomination. 2: The government's status as society's ultimate decision-maker eliminates any possibility that its citizens can stand as free men, sovereign and in control of their own destiny. 3: appealing to the economic concept of free market competition, Hoppe points out that if government possesses a monopoly on things like defense and justice, then defense and justice will be higher in cost and lower in quality than they would be in a society filled with competing defenders and justice-seekers. 4: Governments do not give their citizens the option of voluntarily following their rules. They force us to follow. Finally, 5: Government has a natural tendency towards growth. It desires to increase its jurisdiction, to force more and more people to bow to its will. Eventually, this always leads to tyranny.
He describes "limited government" as an impossibility and dismisses the United States Constitution as incapable of protecting people's natural rights to life, liberty and property. "In granting government the power to tax and legislate without consent, the Constitution cannot possibly assure this goal...it is absurd to believe that an agency that may tax without consent can be a property protector. Likewise, it is absurd to believe that an agency with legislative powers can preserve law and order." (pg. 279) These arguments will probably be unpalatable to most people because of how hardcore they are, yet in all my life, I have heard very few things that make as much sense. It's something that many people probably have intuitively figured out yet have trouble vocalizing. He deserves strong praise for stripping away our illusions about government and speaking these blunt truths to us.
Hoppe also deserves strong praise for calling attention to some facts of reality that libertarians often ignore or resist: that races differ in average intelligence and criminality, that religiously and ethnically homogenous communities have far less conflict than diverse multicultural communities, that private property owners have the moral right to discriminate in their hiring and service practices and that "Free Immigration" isn't free at all because it denies the rights of natives their right to free association (Representative Emanuel Celler never asked the 90% white America of 1965 if they wanted to be flooded with third world immigrants). Libertarians must consider these facts as they attempt to build a stateless society.
In his discussion of monarchy and democracy, Hoppe demonstrates clearly why the world today is so utterly screwed up. Monarchs viewed their countries as their own private property and hence had a built-in incentive to keep them in good condition because their personal value was tied to their country's well-being. They were more likely to consider the long term impact of their policies instead of only the short term and less likely to mercilessly abuse their subjects; by contrast, today's democratically elected "caretakers" (presidents and prime ministers) can inflict horrible damage on the world, face virtually no consequences and enjoy a carefree retirement.
Hoppe is not exaggerating when he describes World War I as "the end of civilization". This was the point in history where the three monarchical empires of Europe, (the Austro-Hungarian Habsburgs, German Hohenzollerns and Russian Romanovs) surrendered their thrones, leaving the stage set for unlimited totalitarian government. What followed was Communism, Nazism, Fascism, mass terror killings and famines, World War II, the New World Order's one world government under the United Nations, constantly rising taxes and spending, debt and inflation, the welfare state, mass imprisonment and social dysfunction at all levels. Hoppe outright murders the Whig/Progressive Theory Of History with disquieting statistical evidence. The idea that the world was a more noble and peaceful place centuries ago isn't just for wistful romantics, it probably actually was better back then. "Democracy: The God That Failed" is such an effective attack on several "sacred ideas", the institution of government, the sanctity of the Constitution, the idea of democracy, the myth of progress and politically correct standards, that if I were to describe this book in one phrase, I'd call it "a refutation of the modern world".
In order to escape from our current apocalyptic situation, Hoppe gives two suggestions: one is a large shift in public opinion causing people to view democracy as illegitimate. I highly doubt this will happen, at least in the short term. More realistically, he suggests secession. People all around the world should secede from their countries so that new, stateless territories may be created (this may also cause the majority countries to become less corrupt, for competitive reasons). I offer a third solution: civilians everywhere should arm themselves for self-defense, defying government statute if necessary. All tyranny is dependent upon the people being unwilling or unable to resist it; armed people are able to resist, at least somewhat.
If Hoppe's goal was to convince me, he succeeded. I have cast off all remaining vestiges of faith that John Locke and Thomas Jefferson's dream of "limited, Constitutional government" can exist. I have joined the ranks of the stateless (former National Review columnist Joseph Sobran met the same fate upon encountering Hoppe). I do not know how many readers of "Democracy: The God That Failed" will adopt this radical way of thinking, but at the very least, I don't think anyone who reads this deeply subversive work will be able to look at politics and history the same way anymore and given the state of things, that's a huge blessing.
Well, my answer before reading the book was that democracy is a failure because of the size and the power it has reached, and the asymmetry that occurs between what it pursues and what it gets. Ancient city-states were proportionate to the government as long as almost any citizen could participate in the discussion and in the solution of any public affair. Democracy, let's say, was just at the round of the corner of any single citizen. Today, that is not the case. Not anymore.
Hans-Hermann Hoppe's "Democracy, the god that failed," has written a superb book on this topic, analyzing the present state of the world as a derivative of the previous state which was --fundamentally-- monarchical. That's why the in the cover we read "the economics and politics of monarchy, democracy, and natural order." As you read, you discover that this sentence represents exactly the content of "Democracy..."
Thus, in thirteen chapters, Hoppe compares the present democracy with the past monarchy and then proposes that the natural order is the very alternative (and the solution) to break the dead end which is democracy (or so it seems). His insight in this respect is the clue to convince you that, for instance, democracy wasn't an advance or a social conquest with respect to monarchy. He is a professor and the hours giving lectures are evident. He is not only talking to you, he is also teaching you. In general, as a reader, I appreciate the author's capacity to show things from different angles, specially when the topic is so common, universal, and close to you (as it is the case with democracy). We are so submerged in politics that we have the very equivocal idea that we understand the whole phenomenon. After reading Hoppe's book you discover that there was some loose ends that usually you don't take into account and that deserve your attention.
Now, the basis of the discussion (the floor) is private property, economy, state interventionism, and taxes. Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, and the Austrian School of economics are the ghostly presences whose words, works, and insights remember you those of the prophets or heroes of religion. In fact they are both prophets and heroes --although of a non religion quest-- as long as they developed a new way of looking at the problems that liberalism faced when the end of the monarchies and the rise of democracies left it out of the party.
Democracy, Hoppe says, was a model imposed by the U.S. after World War I. Since then, nothing has changed. Who would dare to put into question a model which rules almost all over the world?
Well, the book touches any single theme in depth so it has nothing to do with a pamphlet, therefore do not expect a fast reading because it demands time for a non expert to comprehend some analysis, long footnotes or economic concepts like "time preference." A couple of consultations here and there will give you, anyway, the clarity for continuing the reading. I should add here that the study of the past and the present is the best part of the book. In this regard, the weakest part is the last one, where Hoppe talks about the future, and proposes the "prospect for revolution" based on what private owners could do for living without a state. He talks about the possibilities of structures like insurance companies for protecting you of the risks and dangers of living inevitably among bad guys. Not only that, he also holds that those companies should act against any menace to a free society (of private owners). As long as it is true that in theory anarcho-capitalism is better than democracy for fulfilling a life in freedom, in practice is difficult to imagine how all this is going to work in a world with no states, plenty of independent and prosperous cities. Unfortunately, Hoppe doesn't put much discussion in giving you an idea of what detractors think about it and I think it would have been a valuable plus for the book.
My only objection to "Democracy," is the repetition of some topics in several chapters. Even some notes are repeated and that, I guess, should have been avoided with a more rigorous edition. At the beginning of the book the author says that much of the studies "have grown out of speeches delivered at various conferences," and I'm sorry to say that it is too much obvious.
A very good companion for "Democracy" is For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization (Series; 2) , The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge , and Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics .
In sum, "Democracy" is a very instructive, interesting, and necessary book on democracy, a god that really failed.
Top reviews from other countries
The conclusion that the state should be replaced by insurance companies and contracts is reasonable, and does currently work in certain classes of international business activity to circumvent the complications and delays of inter-state law, but I suspect--if computer security is anything to judge by--security and sophisticated scare-mongering would become a dominant preoccupation and divert capital from more productive activity.
The state as a monopoly is democratically granted its temporary monopoly, and although any constitution is simply a piece of paper which may be capable of abuse by interpretation and manipulation, it is up to the electorate to exercise good judgement in their electoral choices. Which is another good reason for many to read this book at this juncture in time. Furthermore--as a crude metaphor--just because a metal ladder doesn't specify that it should not be leaned against overhead electricity cables, sufficient 'a priori' knowledge should avoid this from happening instead of having to legislate for the banning of metal ladders and pursue claims for damage or death through the courts and seek compensation by way of insurance.
At their best, books are supposed to teach us, even enlighten us, but they rarely do. Most of the time they barely entertain, or divert us. Sometimes repeating things that we have already seen or read or heard somehwere else in a different form a hundred times before. Not this book. It challenges and educates. Get it!








