The liberty-loving wit and wisdom 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.
The Congress shall make no law curbing anyone's bustle!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that is like curb your enthusiasm?
ReplyDeleteWow anyone but me hear an echo of "Rootless Cosmopolitans" here? As odd as that might sound coming from an Austrian.
ReplyDeleteOr Entartete Kunst?
ReplyDelete"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."
ReplyDeleteWhy then was he so quick to high tail it out of Europe at a time when his dreams were about to come to fruition? Was he worried about being thought of as being a member of one of those "cliques and coteries"?