Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute

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1. LETTER ON “RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM” BY GEORGE B. CUTTEN November 16, 1948 Dr. F.A. Harper Foundation for Economic Education Dear Dr. Harper: I apologize for the delay in commenting on Dr. Cutten’s speech expounding rugged individualism. 1 As a matter of fact, I was just going to write you a letter on election night, and tuned in the radio expecting to hear the returns confirming the expected results in a “dull” election. I need not explain how my attention was diverted. Since then, I have been recuperating from and analyzing the results. My forecast on the political history of the USA in the next few years is briefly this: Truman and Congress will believe that they now have a mandate for running headlong down a steep shortcut on the old Road to Serfdom. 2 They will show no hesitation in acting accordingly. The Republicans will 1G.B. Cutten, “Rugged Individualism,” in Vital Speeches of the Day (November 5, 1934). This was a paper given by George Burton Cutten, president of Colgate University on the occasion of a university meeting, September 20, 1934. 2The “Road to Serfdom” refers to the work by F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1944). 49
MURRAY N. ROTHBARD VS. THE PHILOSPHERS: UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS 50 ON HAYEK, MISES, STRAUSS, AND POLYANI promptly “reorganize,” “meaning simply that the recent (and forthcoming) accretions of State power are here to stay . . . and that . . . they are preparing to dispose themselves most advantageously in a contest for their control and management.” 3 In 1952, we shall be treated to a “contest” between a Douglas-Bowles or Humphrey-Bowles ticket versus a Stassen-Saltonstall ticket, if indeed Stassen is not considered by that time as an “ultrareactionary.” 4 The New Dealish voters will all vote for Douglas-Bowles while the substantial minority of true liberal voters will “go fishing” in disgust. The consequence will be a thumping Democratic landslide and four more years of even more socialism. In l956 . . . well who knows whether elections themselves may not be “outmoded” by that time? As for Dr. Cutten’s speech, I found it very interesting, particularly since it is the first document I’ve received from the foundation with which I find myself in almost complete disagreement. The philosophy of rugged individualism has always seemed to me to be not only a useless but also a pernicious outgrowth or variant of individualism. Rugged individualism, also known as social Darwinism, is inhumane and illogical; it is based on a completely false use of analogy and an absurd theory of ethics. The theory is originally based on an unwarranted extension of Darwinism to the history of man. Supposedly, man develops continually struggling against nature—i.e., struggling to 3Rothard notes, A.J. Nock, Our Enemy, the State (New York: William Morrow, 1935), p. 20. 4Paul Douglas (1892–1976) was a U.S. senator (Democrat); Chester Bowles (1901–1986) was a U.S. congressman (Democrat) and diplomat; Hubert Humphrey (1911–1978) was vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969; Harold Stassen (1907–2001) was a U.S. senator (Republican). In 1948 and many times thereafter, Stassen ran for the Republican presidential nomination, but he was always defeated; Leverett Saltonstall was a U.S. senator (Republican).
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© 2009 by the Ludwig von Mises Ins
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CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE AND WORKS OF
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REFERENCES 1 Buckley, William F. Go
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 151 BIB
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 153 Dav
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 155 giv
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“Absolutes, Relativism, and the S
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INDEX 161 environment, 123-24 Essay
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INDEX 163 Jesuits, 24 judges, 69 ju
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INDEX 165 Oriental Despotism (Wittf
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INDEX 167 Socrates, 26n42 solidarit
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Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute

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