This page contain semi-formal representations of the ideas of Hans-Hermann Hoppe
(hhh) by me (Philippe Martin; hence, the user id 'pm' in the representations).
These ideas are presented in
Hoppe's Web page titled
"Democracy: The God That Failed". In my opinion, the semi-formal representations
make the outrageous/non-sensical nature of his argumentation quite explicit.
However, I have not yet entered objections. when this structured discussion is
stored into WebKB-2, anyone will be able to add objections or arguments to the statements
below. See the Structured discussion page for details on the goals
and notation used for structured discussions.
Do not hesitate to send me
an email, e.g. if you want to add something but do not know how.
"theoretical propositions are about necessary facts/imposibilities and relations"
argument: "experience may only illustrate a theory" (hhh pm),
argument: "historical experience can neither establish a theorem nor refute it" (hhh pm),
argument: "without a firm grasp of theory serious errors in the interpretation
of historical data are unavoidable" (hhh pm);
en#proposition_of_economic_and_political_theory
specialization:
"a larger quantity of a good is preferred to a smaller amount of the same good"
"production must precede consumption"
"what is consumed now cannot be consumed again in the future"
"prices fixed below market-clearing prices will lead to lasting shortages"
"without private property in production factors there can be no factor prices"
"without factor prices cost-accounting is impossible"
"an increase in the supply of paper money cannot increase total social wealth"
"an increase in the supply of paper money can only redistribute existing wealth"
"monopoly (the absence of free entry) leads to higher prices and lower product quality than competition"
"no thing or part of a thing can be owned exclusively by more than one party at a time"
"democracy (majority rule) and private property are incompatible";
`"the unprecedented expansion of wealth associated with the Industrial Revolution"
has for major cause "the invention of fractional reserve banking"' (Carroll Quigley)
opposition: (`"the explosion of wealth during the Industrial Revolution"
despite "fractional reserve banking"'
argument: `"greater prosperity"' cannot have for cause
`"an increase in the paper money supply"' (hhh pm),
argument: `"an increase in the paper money supply"
can only be cause of "wealth redistribution"' (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm);
`"the economic plight of Soviet-style socialism" had for cause
"the absence of democracy"'
opposition: `"the economic plight of Soviet-style socialism" had for cause
"the absence of private property in factors of production"' (hhh pm);
historical_myth
specialization: `"economic and civilizational progress" may have for cause
"the emergence of states out of a prior, non-statist order"' (hhh pm)
"democracy represents an advance over monarchy" (hhh pm)
"there is no alternative to Western welfare-democracies a la US" (hhh pm);
`"economic and civilizational progress" may have for cause
"the emergence of states out of a prior, non-statist order"'
opposition: (`"economic and civilizational progress" despite
"the emergence of states out of a prior, non-statist order"'
argument: "every state, regardless of its particular constitution,
is economically and ethically deficient" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm);
"every state, regardless of its particular constitution, is economically and
ethically deficient"
argument: ("the result of a state is not peaceful cooperation and social order,
but conflict, provocation, aggression, oppression, and impoverishment,
i.e., de-civilization"
argument: - "a state is a monopoly with ultimate decision-making
powers" (hhh pm)
- "a monopolist with ultimate decision-making powers is
very bad" (hhh pm),
argument: this is what the history of states illustrates (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm);
"a state is a monopoly with ultimate decison-making powers"
argument: "a state is defined conventionally as an agency that exercises a
compulsory territorial monopoly of ultimate decison-making
(jurisdiction) and of taxation" (hhh pm);
//note: monopoly is here understood as the absence of free entry into a
// particular line of production: only one agency, A, may produce X
"every monopolist is 'bad' from the viewpoint of consumers"
specialization: "a monopolist with ultimate decison-making powers is very bad" (hhh pm),
argument: "shielded from potential new entrants into its line of production,
the price for its product will be higher and the quality lower than
with free entry" (hhh pm);
"every monopolist with ultimate decison-making powers is very bad"
argument: "a monopolist of ultimate decision-making can and will cause and
provoke conflict in order to settle it to his own advantage" (hhh pm),
argument: ("a monopolist with ultimate decison-making powers would use up
ever more resources (tax revenue) to produce fewer goods and
perpetrate more bads"
argument: "a monopolist with ultimate decison-making powers
can determine the price to be paid for his 'service'
unilaterally" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm);
"democracy represents an advance over monarchy"
specialization: `democracy is the cause of "economic and moral progress"' (hhh pm),
argument: "there is near-universal agreement about this" (hhh pm),
opposition: "democracy is worse than monarchy" (hhh pm),
objection: ("democracy has been the fountainhead of every form of socialism"
example: "(European) democratic socialism"
"(American) liberalism and neo-conservatism"
"international (Soviet) socialism" "(Italian) fascism"
"national (Nazi) socialism" (hhh pm)
) (hhh pm),
objection: ("a king is likely to exploit only moderately and calculatingly than
a president"
argument: ("a king is likely to more future-oriented than a president"
argument: - ("a king is likely to care about the
repercussions of his actions on capital values"
argument: "a king owns his territory and may
sell or bequeath it" (hhh pm)
) (hhh pm)
- "both a king and a president can use their
power to their advantages" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm),
argument: ("democracy permits free entry into every state position'"
argument: "there is no king to restrict the entries" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm,
objection: "only competition in the production of goods is a good thing" (hhh pm),
objection: ("a king is more likely to be a 'good man' that a president"
argument: - "there is no 'entry selection' for a king" (hhh pm)
- "mad kings are quickly restrained/killed by close relatives
concerned with the possessions of the dynasty" (hhh pm)
- ("the selection of government rulers by means of popular
elections makes it essentially impossible for a harmless
or decent person to ever rise to the top"
specialization:
("democracy virtually assures that only dangerous
men will rise to the top of government"
argument: "presidents and prime ministers come
into their position as a result of their
efficiency as morally uninhibited demagogues"
(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm),
objection: ["democracy can be seen as promoting an increase in the social rate of
time preference (present-orientation) or the 'infantilization' of society"
cause of: {"continually increased taxes","paper money inflation",
"an unending flood of legislation",
"a steadily growing 'public' debt", "lower savings",
"increased legal uncertainty", "moral relativism",
"lawlessness", "crime"}](hhh pm),
objection: ["democracy is a tool for wealth/income redistribution"
cause of: ("the incentive to be of value or produce something valuable
is systematically reduced", cause of:
"the proportion of not-so-good people and not-so-good
personal traits, habits, and forms of conduct and
appearance increases, and life in society becomes
increasingly unpleasant")](hhh pm),
objection: ("democracy has transformed the limited wars of kings into total wars",
argument: - "a king's motive for war is typically tangible and
territorial: to gain control over some real estate and
its inhabitants" (hhh pm)
- "in a democracy, the motive for war are ideological:
democracy, liberty, civilization, humanity" (hhh pm)
- "an ideological war requires the ideological 'conversion
of the losers preceded by their 'unconditional'
surrender" (hhh pm)
- ("an ideological mass conversion may require such means as
the mass murder of civilians",
argument: "one can never be certain about the sincerity
of mass conversions"(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
- ("with democracy, the distinction between combatants and
non-combatants becomes fuzzier with democracy"
argument: - "it is in a king's interest to keep
non-combatants and their property
undamaged" (hhh pm)
- "it is not in a democracy's interest to
keep non-combatants and their property
undamaged" (hhh pm)
- "'collateral damage' can be an effective war
strategy" (hhh pm)
- "a democracy can use draft and popular war
rallies more extensively than a king
can" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm);
"there is no alternative to Western welfare-democracies a la US"
objection: ("the modern welfare-state is bound to collapse under its own parasitic weight"
argument: "the modern welfare-state is not a 'stable'
economic system" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm),
objection: ("the 'natural order' is an economically stable alternative to democracy"
argument:
("crime is reduced in a 'natural order' society"
argument: - ("in a 'natural order' society, insurers encourage
gun ownership by offering lower premiums
to armed (and weapons-trained) clients"
argument: "in a 'natural order' society, insurers
can insure against victimization" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
- ("in a 'natural order' aggressors/provocateurs are weak"
argument: ("in a 'natural order' aggressors and
provocateurs are be denied insurance coverage"
argument: "in a 'natural order' society,
insurers can insure against
victimization" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
)(hhh pm),
argument: - ("a 'natural order' society is distinctly un-egalitarian
(elitist, hierarchical, proprietarian, patriarchical and
authoritorian) and discrimination, segregation, spatial
separation, uniculturalism (cultural homogeneity),
exclusivity and exclusion"
argument: "in a 'natural order' society, the right to
exclusion (inherent in the very idea of private
property) is restored to private property
owners" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm)
- "the stability of a 'natural order' society depends essentially
on the existence of a self-conscious natural - voluntarily
acknowledged - aristocracy" (hhh pm)
)(hhh pm);
natural_order (^a social system where every scarce resource, including all land, is owned
privately, every enterprise is funded by voluntarily paying customers or private donors,
and entry into every line of production, including that of property protection,
conflict arbitration, and peacemaking, is free^);