A THEORY OF SOCIALISM AND CAPITALISM by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Author: Hans-Hermann Hoppe is an Austrian School economist and libertarian/anarcho-capitalist philosopher. He is Professor Emeritus of Economics at UNLV.Book: This treatise is a study of economics, politics, and the morals of socialism and capitalism. Mr Hoppe argues that all systems are a combination of socialism and capitalism. Capitalism is defined by pure protection of private property rights, free association and exchange. All systems which deviate from that are socialists. After explaining the basic theory behind property, contracts, and others, he distinguishes Russian style socialism, social-democratic style socialism and conservative socialism. He argues that the moral base for all of them is similar, but their policies differ in some ways. While the “left version” of socialism tends toward outright public property ownership and redistribution, the “right version” usually favours high regulation, protectionism, and nationalism. Then he develops a moral justification of capitalism and argues that socialism is morally indefensible. He also demonstrates that economically, socialism is also far behind capitalism. Finally, Mr Hoppe analyses the socio-psychological characteristics of the institution embodying socialism, the state.Opinion: Magnificent book on the morals of socialism and capitalism. The economic analysis is good too; however, I think there are better studies out there about the topic. The moral case is one of the best. Perhaps, what I liked most is his justification of natural rights. He justifies (ultra-simplification) private property arguing that, when you have a discussion with someone, that person is implicitly admitting that you are the owner of your ideas, thus you are the owner of yourself. Consequently, everything you create with your body/imagination belongs to you. I would recommend this book to everyone, especially to those socialists who think that they are morally superior to the rest.
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