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OMNIPOTENT
GOVERNMENT
TheRise
of
the
TotalStateandTotalWar
BY
Ludwig
von
Mises
NEWHAVEN
Yale
University
Press
1944
 
COPYRIGHT,
1944,
BY
YALE
UNIVERSITYPRl':SS
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
All
rights
reserved.
This
book
may
not
be
reproduced,
in
whole
or
inpart,in
any
form(except
by
reviewers
for
the
public
press),
withoutwritten
permissionfrom
the
publIshers.
A
WARTIME
BOOK
THISCOMPLETEEDITIONISPRODUCED
IN
FULLCOMPLIANCE
WITHTHE
GOVERN-MENT'SREGULATIONSFORCONSERVINGPAPER
AND
OTHERESSENTIALMATERIALS.
 
Preface
I
N
dealing
withthe
problems
of
social
and
economicpolicies,
the
socialsciencesconsideronly
one
question:
whether
the
measuressuggested
are
really
suited
to
bringing
about
the
effects
sought
by
their
authors,
or
whether
they
result
in
astateofaffairs
which-from
the
viewpoint
of
their
supporters-is
even
more
undesirable
than
the
previousstate
which
it
wasin
tended
toalter.
The
economistdoes
not
substitute
his
own
judg
mentabout
the
desirability
ofultimate
endsfor
that
ofhisfellowcitizens.
He
merelyasks
whetherthe
ends
sought
bynations,gov
ernments,
politicalparties,
and
pressuregroups
can
indeedbe
at
tained
by
the
methods
actuallychosenfor
their
realization.
It
is,to
be
sure,athanklesstask.Most
people
are
intolerant
of
anycriticismof
their
social
and
economictenets.
They
do
not
understand
that
the
objectionsraised
referonly
to
unsuitable
methods
anddo
not
dispute
theultimate
endsof
their
efforts.
They
are
not
prepared
to
admit
the
possibility
that
they
mightattain
their
ends
more
easilybyfollowing
the
economists'advice
than
by
disregardingit.
They
call
an
enemyof
their
nation,
race,
or
group
anyonewho
ventures
tocriticize
their
cherishedpolicies.
This
stubborn
dogmatismispernicious
and
oneoftheroot
causes
ofthe
present
state
of
world
affairs.
An
economistwho
as-
serts
thatminimum
wageratesare
not
theappropriate
meansofraising
the
wageearners'
standardof
livingis
neither
a
"labor
baiter"
nor
an
enemy
of
the
workers.
On
the
contrary,
in
suggesting
moresuitable
methodsfor
theimprovementofthe
wageearners'
material
well-being,
hecontributes
as
much
as
hecan
toa
genuinepromotionof
their
prosperity.
To
point
out
the
advantages
which
everybodyderivesfrom
theworkingof
capitalism
is
not
tantamount
to
defendingthe
vestedinterestsof
the
capitalists.
An
economist
who
forty
or
fiftyyearsagoadvocated
the
preservation
ofthe
system
of
private
property
and
free
enterprise
did
not
fightfor
the
selfishclassinterestsof
the
then
rich.
He
wanted
afree
hand
left
tothose
unknown
among
hispenniless
contemporaries
who
hadtheingenuity
todevelopallthose
new
industrieswhich
today
render
the
lifeof
thecommon
man
more
pleasant.
Many
pioneers
of
these
industrial
changes,
it
is
true,
becamerich.
But
they
acquired
their
wealth
by
supplying
thepublicwithmotor
cars,airplanes,
radio
sets,refrigerators,
moving
and
talking
pictures,
and
avarietyoflessspectacular
but
of 00

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