The Anti-Intellectual Mentality of Herr Ludwig von Mises
"The vain arrogance of the literati and Bohemian artists dismisses the activities of the businessmen as unintellectual moneymaking. The truth is that the entrepreneurs and promoters display more intellectual faculties and intuition than the average writer and painter. The inferiority of many self-styled intellectuals manifests itself precisely in the fact that they fail to recognize what capacity and reasoning power are required to operate successfully a business enterprise.
The emergence of a numerous class of such frivolous intellectuals is one of the least welcome phenomena of the age of modern capitalism. Their obtrusive stir repels discriminating people. They are a nuisance. It would not directly harm anybody if something would be done to curb their bustle or, even better, to wipe out entirely their cliques and coteries."
From this it seems that Mises misses that money making -- buisness -- is a talent just as writing or painting are. Talent, of course, is not enough. Talent demands skill or technique to achieve its full expression whether as a novel or an assembly line or a derivative.
ReplyDeleteIt also appears that he posses the sort of stunted intellect that can dismiss whole groups of people as worthless. I imagine the the oak tree might feel much the same about the squid.
Even an economist requires imagination to grasp the whole.
--ml
The simpler explanation is that von Mises was a putz. The whole book this was from, "The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality" seethes with projected ressentiment. It is best enjoyed as a kind of twisted "confession" ("I know this is what motivates the despised 'other' because it is what I feel but cannot admit even unto myself."). Guy should have ventured out of the closet more.
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