Liberty and Property.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute
Liberty and Property.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute
Liberty and Property.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute
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16<strong>Liberty</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Property</strong>the words of Malthus, had to discover that“at nature’s mighty feast there is no vacantcover for him” <strong>and</strong> that “she tells him to begone.” But some of these outcasts neverthelessmanaged to survive, begot children, <strong>and</strong>made the number of destitute grow hopelesslymore <strong>and</strong> more.But then came capitalism. It is customaryto see the radical innovations that capitalismbrought about in the substitution ofthe mechanical factory for the more primitive<strong>and</strong> less efficient methods of the artisans’shops. This is a rather superficial view. <strong>The</strong>characteristic feature of capitalism that distinguishesit from pre-capitalist methods ofproduction was its new principle of marketing.Capitalism is not simply mass production,but mass production to satisfy theneeds of the masses. <strong>The</strong> arts <strong>and</strong> crafts ofthe good old days had catered almost exclusivelyto the wants of the well-to-do. ButThomas R. Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population,2nd ed. (London, 1803), p. 531.