Liberty and Property.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

40Liberty and Propertyviz., its nonexistence. The mere essence of aproduct cannot gratify anybody without itsexistence. But they are wrong, say the doctors.The corporation dominates the housewife,it destroys by its excessive concentratedpower over her individual freedom, and it isthe duty of the government to prevent sucha gross offense. Corporations, say, under theauspices of the Ford Foundation, anotherof this group, Professor Berle, must be subjectedto the control of the government. Why does our housewife buy the cannedproduct rather than cling to the methods ofher mother and grandmother? No doubtbecause she thinks this way of acting is moreadvantageous for her than the traditionalcustom. Nobody forced her. There werepeople—they are called jobbers, promoters,capitalists, speculators, stock exchange gamblers—whohad the idea of satisfying a latentwish of millions of housewives by investingA.A. Berle, Jr., Economic Power and the Free Society, a PreliminaryDiscussion of the Corporation (New York: The Fundfor the Republic, 1954).