Democracy-The God That Failed

by Hoppe, Hans-Hermann

• ISBN13: 9780765800886
• ISBN10: 0765800888
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-10-01
• Publisher: Transaction Pub
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Summary

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.

Hopp

Author Biography

Hans-Hermann Hoppe is currently professor of economics at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, AL, and editor of the Journal of Libertarian Studies: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly Review.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	ix
On Time Preference, Government, and the Process of Decivilization	1	(44)
On Monarchy, Democracy, and the Idea of Natural Order	45	(32)
On Monarchy, Democracy, Public Opinion, and Delegitimation	77	(18)
On Democracy, Redistribution, and the Destruction of Property	95	(12)
On Centralization and Secession	107	(14)
On Socialism and Desocialization	121	(16)
On Free Immigration and Forced Integration	137	(14)
On Free Trade and Restricted Immigration	151	(20)
On Cooperation, Tribe, City, and State	171	(16)
On Conservatism and Libertarianism	187	(34)
On the Errors of Classical Liberalism and the Future of Liberty	221	(18)
On Government and the Private Production of Defense	239	(28)
On the Impossibility of Limited Government and the Prospect for Revolution	267	(26)
Index	293