"In fact, however, the supporters of the welfare state are utterly anti-social and intolerant zealots. For their ideology tacitly implies that the government will exactly execute what they themselves deem right and beneficial. They entirely disregard the possibility that there could arise disagreement with regard to the question of what is right and expedient and what is not. They advocate enlightened despotism, but they are convinced that the enlightened despot will in every detail comply with their own opinion concerning the measures to be adopted. They favour planning, but what they have in mind is exclusively their own plan, not those of other people. They want to exterminate all opponents, that is, all those who disagree with them. They are utterly intolerant and are not prepared to allow any discussion. Every advocate of the welfare state and of planning is a potential dictator. What he plans is to deprive all other men of all their rights, and to establish his own and his friends' unrestricted omnipotence. He refuses to convince his fellow-citizens. He prefers to "liquidate" them. He scorns the "bourgeois" society that worships law and legal procedure. He himself worships violence and bloodshed."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesAcademics from AustriaEconomists from the United StatesLudwig von MisesAustrian School economists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Mises
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Ludwig von Mises
1881 – 1973
österreichisch-amerikanischer Volkswirtschaftler
63 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Ludwig von Mises →
Related Quotes
"Socialism is the watchword and the catchword of our day. The socialist idea dominates the modem spirit. The masses ap…"
"Bourgeois civilization has built railroads and electric power plants, has invented explosives and airplanes, in order…"
"War prosperity is like the prosperity that an earthquake or a plague brings."
"The goal of liberalism is the peaceful cooperation of all men. It aims at peace among nations too. When there is priv…"
"The characteristic feature of militarism is not the fact that a nation has a powerful army or navy. It is the paramou…"
"Inflation is an increase in the quantity of money without a corresponding increase in the demand for money, i.e., for…"
"If one rejects laissez faire on account of man's fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also re…"
"You have the courage to tell the masses what no politician told them: you are inferior and all the improvements in yo…"
"The proof of a theory is in its reasoning, not in its sponsorship"
"All rational action is economic. All economic activity is rational action. All rational action is in the first place …"