This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Keynes On Worker Utopia Through Perpetual Threat Of War
Presenting 74 seconds of pure Krugmanism from the mouth of the man himself - Keynes 1939 (pre-war) radio address on the beginning of The Grand Experiment...
»
- 17838 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
WAR! what is it good for? bailing out the bankers. say it again.
War cures unemployment by slaving men into the army. You are a fighting slave. You might be given slips of paper to trade for goods. Made by labor in " the economy " that are ordered to make things. They are slaves but a bit less so. If the war goes bad, and previously unemployed are killed in large numbers, not only will unemployment be solved, there will be long term labor shortages. Think of it as Cash For Clunkers stimulus but with men instead of cars.
the beast is on the gobble and all that matters is we're all headed for it's belly
http://youtu.be/ntmthFyaYzY
The conclusion to Murray Rothbard's "Keynes the Man":
"That Keynes was a Keynesian . . . is the only explanation that makes any sense of Keynesian economics. Yet Keynes was much more than a Keynesian. Above all, he was an extraordinarily pernicious and malignant figure . . . a charming but power-driven statist Machiavelli, who embodied some of the most malevolent trends and institutions of the twentieth century."
http://mises.org/etexts/keynestheman.pdf
It's called The Greatest Generation because they rebuilt after the madness, not because of the things they did during it. Note ~ I'm happy to include all of that generation, Axis or Ally, in this statement. Yes, even those evil Russkis, who did their fair share of advancement, and even the Greeks (ex-communists or Fascists alike). Yes, even Keynes[1] - remember, Europe had already lost an entire generation (of all classes) in 1914 - 1918, and the British and French were terrified of the radicalism they saw in Germany; in addition, The Establishment were already well aware they were headed for war.
If you're wanting to use it for ammo in 2012 culture wars, pause, take a look at modern America, and ask one how (s)he feels about it (while they're still around). It's not Obama's fault, something broke a long time before the present tense arrived.
You were supposed to go to the stars, remember? Not have 70% obesity and entitled narcissim.
However, on the record: Europe is largely (ex-Soviet satellites aside for a moment) the realm of the professional army, and the concept of actual warfare is totally alien to most of its inhabitants. The same play won't fly a second time. While it is obvious that most of the social engineering and modelling going on is precisely to determine the fracture points of a "modern" society (wasn't it average salary $9k + food price rises as the catalyst?), the fears / desires of / to a return to 20th C dynamics is the mark of a small mind.
Note: the audio can be found with footage of Keynes (albeit briefly).
Disclosure: I realise that defending Keynes here is rather like base jumping off the fiscal cliff, so have at ye. Personal note: I'm happy to say I informed my relatives who were part of the rebuilding that they were known as "The Greatest Generation", which was (surprising) news to them, but I hope it gave some small measure of thanks.
[1]For the record, in this context, the "Great Experiment" refers to a total war economy & gender barriers being removed, something the Nazi party forgot to do until far too late in the game. Yes, women in the industrial work-force, society itself trembled. Oooh me doily!
What you have said, in many words, is that men will always choose bread over freedom. Men will also choose life over freedom.
Those that say otherwise have not faced the stark choices, and been forced to make the decision. There will be the extremely rare exception as there usually is to any rule of thumb...
Human nature; the only constant throughout human history.
Nothing new here.
Like it or not. military Keynesianism is a fact. The US' 'military-industrial complex' is an expression as was the Soviet Union.
Germany's economy improved during the 1930s when billions of borrowed funds were put to use building armaments. Keynes simply described a fact. The same fact has also been described by others. He could not invent the process as it took form centuries before.
A notable modern description is Bernard Mandeville's 'Fable of the Bees': that private vices lead to public good. Hayek praised Mandeville, Keynes does the same thing.
The problem with military spending is it leads toward making practical use of the military goods. The outcome can be seen in the US now with its endless wars ...
None of this has anything to do with Keynes who was anti-war.
Keynesian Economics – An Economic Fairy Tale
While there are many idiotic political theories bouncing around DC like unmanned bumper cars the most idiotic is the theory of Keynesian economics. Keynesian economics is the belief that making government bigger will subsequently make the overall economy grow bigger.
If Keynesian economics were true then placing fish in a bigger body of water will automatically make the fish grow bigger.
If Keynesian economics were true then placing a blade of grass in the same soil as a tree will automatically make the grass grow as big as the tree.
If Keynesian economics were true then making our atmosphere bigger will automatically cause all living things that breath the air grow bigger.
If Keynesian economics were true then making one variable common to all others bigger (air, soil, water, government spending, etc,) will cause all other dependent variables (animals, plants, mankind, taxpayers) grow bigger in unison.
Keynesian economics is the most absurd theory ever devised by rational man. It is an economic fairy tale.
Keynes was a nutter.
Anyone else catch the "Milton Friedman takes down a young Michael Moore" video that was right next to the Keynes video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD0dmRJ0oWg&feature=related
Hey, Moore, you fat bastard! The cigarettes analogy works for Twinkies too...