Crosscurrents (Vol. 2 No. 1)

War and the Health of the State

The radical literary critic and essayist, Randolph Bourne, had a most perceptive insight into the nature of the state when he observed that “War is the Health of the State.” Bourne realized that war, for whatever purpose, enables the state to expand massively the size and scope of its activities. Under the guise of “the national interest” or “national security,” the state is able to increase taxation, to multiply controls on economic activity, and to violate the rights of dissident individuals.

Bourne cut right through to the essence of state activity in wartime. He was also an acute observer of the behavior of intellectuals vis-a-vis the state. In order to bolster their own position, status, and power, members of the intellectual class ally themselves closely with the state, and serve the state by justifying and supporting whatever the state does. Those few intellectuals who oppose war and the policies of interventionism are blacklisted and become outcasts. The best collection of Bourne’s essays has been edited by Olaf Hansen, The Radical Will: Selected Writings 1911-1918 (New York: Urizen, 1977).

Three recent books illustrate in different ways the accuracy of Bourne’s interpretation. William H. McNeill’s The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000 (University of Chicago Press, 1982) is an excellent survey of the way in which the military has become interwoven with industry, resulting in the well-known military-industrial complex of the twentieth century. The last third of McNeill’s book is particularly valuable, where he concentrates on the “Industrialization of War” and “Military-Industrial Interaction.” McNeill should be supplemented by Murray Rothbard’s important essay, “War Collectivism in World War I,” in A New History of Leviathan: Essays on the Rise of the American Corporate State, ed. Ronald Radosh and Murray N. Rothbard (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1972) and William E. Leuchtenburg “The New Deal and the Analogue of War,” in Change and Continuity in Twentieth Century America ed. John Braehen, Robert Bremner, and Everett Walters (New York: Harper and Row, 1966). The key institution for the wedding together of business and government during the First World War was the War Industries Board.

Robert D. Cuff, The War Industries Board: Business-Government Relations During World War I (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1973) is a very important analysis of this institution. On the economic history of the World Wars themselves, Gerd Hardach’s The First World War 1914-1918 (University of California Press, 1981) and Alan S. Milward, War, Economy and Society 1939-1945 (University of California Press, 1979) are recommended for their bibliographies and sensible approach to a very complex subject.

The other recent books are two companion volumes edited by Benjamin Franklin Cooling. On the development of the military-industrial complex in the United States see his War, Business, and American Society: Historical Perspectives on the Military-Industrial Complex (Port Washington, New York: Kennikat, 1977). On other military-industrial complexes in Great Britain, France, Germany, et al. see War, Business, and World Military-Industrial Complexes (Port Washington, New York: Kennikat, 1981). The classic presentation of the military-industrial thesis is Seymour Melman’s Pentagon Capitalism: The Political Economy of War (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970).

A Guide to Economics Textbooks

Many of our readers have done or are currently doing coursework in economics, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that many of them are unhappy with the textbooks they are required to read. Often, the textbooks are not sufficiently free-market oriented, or if they are sympathetic towards the market, they may not be sympathetic towards the market-process approach.

With the excellent collection of reviews of introductory economics texts edited by James B. Taylor, the student of economics is now in a good position to evaluate the textbook assigned for his or her course. All of the reviewers are strong supporters of the free market, and they are not reluctant to take big-name economists to task for their interventionist sympathies. In addition, five of the reviewers are followers of the Austrian School (Roy Cordato, Richard Fink, Roger Garrison, Jack High, and Karen Palasek).

Each reviewer analyzes a given text, recommending alternative readings whenever they believe the text under discussion to have some shortcomings. In this way, students can overcome any inadequacies. It is also heartening to learn that there are a number of truly excellent free market textbooks available. These include Paul Heyne’s The Economic Way of Thinking (reviewed by Jack High), Gwartney and Stroup’s Economics, Private and Public Choice (reviewed by Roger Garrison) and Alchian and Allen’s University Economics: Elements of Inquiry (reviewed by Richard Fink), in increasing order of sophistication or difficulty. The collection of reviews, American Economics Texts: A Free Market Critique ed. James B. Taylor (Reston, Virginia: Young America’s Foundation, 1982) can be obtained by mail for $4.50 from the Young America’s Foundation, Suite 811, 11800 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 22091.

Hugo Grotius and Natural Law

One of the great figures in the history of natural law is the Dutch legal and political philosopher Hugo Grotius (1583-1645). His most famous work was the Law on War and Peace (De Jure Belli ac Pacis) (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution, 1913-24) written in 1623-24 during the devastating Thirty Years’ War. It is a civilized plea for reason in all human relations, for respecting the rights of individuals, and the peaceful adjudication of disputes between nations. Charles S. Edwards’ new book, Hugo Grotius. The Miracle of Holland: A Study in Political and Legal Thought (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1981) is a useful short introduction to Grotius’s thinking on natural rights, the law of nations, and war. The book has interesting discussions of the Stoic origins of Grotius’s theory of natural law and the relationship between Grotius and the sixteenth-century philosopher, Francisco Suarez. The chapter on “Grotius and the Law of War” argues that there are considerable similarities between Suarez’s theory of justified resistance to tyranny (contained primarily in “A Defense of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith,” in Francisco Suarez, Selections from Three Works, ed. J. B. Scott (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1944) and Grotius’s more cautious formulation.

Edwards concludes the book with a naive call for more optimism in thinking about the problems of international relations. He also believes that “the greatest challenge of our time is to overcome the mood of complacency and resignation” which, in his opinion, dominates world affairs (p. 1770). A careful reading of Grotius would, however, suggest that it is not pessimism and complacency which needs to be overcome but the violent and rights-violating activity of the state.

The International Carl Menger Library

For those who are interested in members of the Austrian School of economics and who would like to read their works in the original German, it is very heartening to see some of the great classics coming back into print. The International Carl Menger Library of the Philosophia Verlag, Munich, under the direction of Kurt R. Leube of Vienna and Albert H. Zlabinger of Jacksonville, Florida, has handsomely reprinted Ludwig von Mises’ Nationalökonomie. Theorie des Handelns und Wirtschaftens (Political Economy: The Theory of Action and Economizing) (Munich: Philosophia Verlag, 1980), the German-language predecessor of Human Action, and Die Gemeinwirtschaft. Untersuchungen über den Sozialismus (The Social Economy: Investigations into Socialism) (Munich: Philosophia Verlag), Mises’ classic analysis of the absurdities of socialism and central planning. There is also Margit von Mises’ biography of her husband, Ludwig von Mises. Der Mensch und sein Werk (Ludwig von Mises: The Man and his Work) (Munich: Philosophia Verlag, 1982).

Another volume worth mentioning is Richard von Strigl, Kapital und Produktion (Capital and Production) (Munich: Philosophia Verlag, 1982), a key work on capital theory in the tradition of Böhm-Bawerk. Strigl was one of the middle-level Austrians (like Mayer and Schönfeld), many of whom have never been translated into English.

The International Carl Menger Library also has had several of the English-language works of Hayek, Lachman, and Kirzner translated into German. All these books are obtainable from Philosophia Verlag, Widenmayerstrasse 34, D-8000 München 22, West Germany.

A Library of Liberty Classics

The latest offerings of the Indianapolis-based publisher LibertyPress/LibertyClassics comprise a veritable library of libertarian classics. The fourth volume of the magnificent Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, Essays on Philosophical Subjects, has appeared. This volume shows the incredible diversity of Smith’s interests, ranging from astronomy to poetry.

Edmund Burke’s essay, A Vindication of Natural Society, is discussed in the previous issue of HSR. It is a remarkably consistent and radical analysis of the state, in which the market (natural society) is clearly distinguished from all types of political activity (artificial society). LibertyClassics does us a great service by rescuing this wonderful essay from the undeserved obscurity of Burke’s Complete Works.

As early as 1884, Herbert Spencer could see the statist direction in which Great Britain was heading. His warnings were published as The Man versus the State. These essays, along with the little-known work on “The Proper Sphere of Government” and some other essays, have been edited by Eric Mack. All the writings of this great liberal political and sociological theorist should be on the shelves of libertarian scholars and students. This attractive volume is a good place to begin your collection.

Other volumes in the latest catalog include A. V. Dicey, The Law of the Constitution Frank H. Knight, Freedom and Reform: Essays in Economic and Social Philosophy and the collection edited by Thomas Mackay, A Plea for Liberty: An Argument Against Socialism and Socialist Legislation; All are strongly recommended. Liberty Press/LibertyClassics, 7440 North Shadeland St., Indianapolis, IN 46250.