1% chance of error is still a chance of error disclaimer: Our ever changing serendipitous world requires that we hold our reservations even in times of great certainty. In fact, maybe Austrians being Libertarians is just coincidence
Coincidence or not? Video
However unlikely, if we discount the possibility, we could fall prey to a type I error. Remember, parsimony is key to scientific discovery.
Having said that, we can get closer to the point. Does it even matter if the whole Austrian school is of a solitary political belief (libertarianism)? No. Go figure out why presidents are stone-masons. or even better, go find out why Democrats and Republicans always overshadow libertarians. The two competing schools of political thought are mutually-perpetuated. It's not a choice between the right political power and the wrong one, it's choosing the lesser of two evils (democrat and republican), because the good choice (libertarianism) is not popular enough to win!
Let's examine a disagreement demonstrated on this very blog.
Doclawson is right. Economics is boring.
Walter Block is also right. Economics is interesting.
YOU CAN'T PROVE THAT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. It doesn't matter who is right, or more right. The most important bit is the hype associated with the fact that one of these two points must be wrong, right? Wrong. These people are both right because together they have propagated a mutually beneficial subject: economics. Both of their livelihood's have benefited. To outsiders, this may seem like a disagreement, but to the two parties involved,
How is it that economics has survived so long?
gains from trading the information, interesting subject matter, and most importantly: Conflict.
How do you make sure conflict is not detrimental?
You can't. You can try all you want, but demagogues will always be able to use it for their own personal gain.
Charisma is key when popular opinion determines the lifespan of your life's work (for politicians). If you can't teach a layman why your school of thought is beneficial, you could be wasting you time.This is the lesson to be learned by economics: competition and conflict exists in almost all social circles. To infiltrate those circles with information, it is necessary to find something that people fundamentally disagree upon (closest to median divide that you can find), and argue both sides of it.
Great Dictator Speech. Video
Nazi Austrians - Nastrians. As far as i can tell, Nazism was viral and non-preventable through political beliefs. Trying to resist Nazism by expressing other political beliefs would be like trying to resist a tidal wave by doing the crawl-stroke.
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