http://mises.org/story/3061 The Seen, the Unseen, and the Hidden Costs of Statism Excerpt Frédéric Bastiat famously observed that the state costs us in ways we can see and ways we cannot see. Economists tend to focus on the second type because they elude public perceptions. What inventions are we denied because of regulations? What might have been done with the resources that are diverted in taxes or higher prices due to protectionism? The answers demonstrate that, because of intervention, we are worse off than we know. Sometimes, however, we should also look at the potentially seen costs of the state, if only because the state doesn't want us to see those either. These are the direct destructions caused by some state activity, most especially war. Seeing war in photographs changes things. It causes us to observe the state's war and what it is doing to people: us and them. This is why the state doesn't want pictures of US wounded or dead circulating in public. The media mostly obey. Did you ever notice that? You are being shown only what the government wants you to see. The state does not want you to see dead soldiers or suffering families of those shot and killed. Instead the state wants you to believe that the Iraq War is about patriotism, 9/11, national pride, the campaign to make you safer, the administering of justice, manhood and courage, and all the rest of the coverups for what war really is: murder and destruction paid for by you and me and made legal solely because it is the state and not someone else doing it. Fantastic article on Bastiat's notion of seen and unseen costs, how the state would rather we see nothing it does not want us to see, because if we fully comprehend cause and all of it's effects, we might be inclined to behave in our own rational, moral self-interest, instead of the rationales the state creates for us. I advise giving it a read, and if you have never heard of Bastiat, check him out. He was an amazing character in the classic liberal tradition.
You need to fix the mises link, it does not work upon click. I found the article, but figured you would want to fix the link in your post too. Here is the link to the story I am always surprised and offended that the US government makes such an effort to suppress photos of the reality of war.
I think most people fail to fully comprehend anything, regardless of what they are shown. Sounds like a good article though...thanks for posting it.
Did you read it? It's a little heavy, but Lew hasn't been pulling punches lately. No sense in tip-toeing around evil and trying to downplay how bad it is. @browntwn, thanks.
Very, very nice article. The article is not just about the U.S. A lot of democratic countries also do the same. I speak from experience. I'm from India and the government here has been doing the same for decades now. Thanks for sharing the article with us, Guerilla.
My pleasure. You are correct, a lot of so called democratic republics, or parliamentary democracies do not act in the best interest of their citizens, but in the best interests of the state itself, even if that comes at the expense of the citizenry. War is one such example, as Hermann Goering, a famous Nazi once said, If we understand that the common man does not want war, then why do we continue to have them? Surely war is not in the best interest of the individual citizen. Anyway, happy you liked it. Lew is one of my favorite authors at Mises.org.
That is a great quote by Hermann Goering. I agree 100% Most wars are started by the leaders of nations acting in ways that the public does not neccesarily agree with.
What's funny is we all witnessed it unfold precisely this way this time around, any expert, or dare you bring up the experts testimony that disputed the war mongers perspective and you were labeled unpatriotic or 'terrorist supporter' it's still going on to this day.
When it comes to criticizing the structure and the nature of government, Henry David Thoreau is my favorite. After all, the man said "That government is best which governs least." Here's one of all time my favorites. Check it out. http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil1.html
The photo with the leg blown off, if you were exposed to that daily, you wouldn't be for the war. It shows a child, and another civilian, in a grotesque situation. Thanks for posting it webwork. I've burnt out for now on railing against war. The reality is that too many people are complacent, and detached from reality. They are too into xbox, or sex or drinking or television or movies or facebook to realize that absolute evil and horror is being done in their name, with their taxes. Until there is a larger awakening, I fear we won't be able to change things. Runaway government already doesn't recognize the will of 70%+ of the people to end war and bring our troops safely back home. As mentioned, the state doesn't serve the people. It serves itself.