The Scum Rises to the Top

Excellent quotes, Laurence.

Hans-Hermann Hoppe explains why we get leaders who send soldiers to die for the Emir of Kuwait and who care about whose flag is planted in Crimea, even though they should not according to our own moral and pragmatic standards or those of Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul. It’s in his essay “Why Bad Men Rule“.

The explanation is that the scum rises to the top in the competition for state power: “In contrast, the selection of government rulers by means of popular elections makes it nearly impossible that a good or harmless person could ever rise to the top. Prime ministers and presidents are selected for their proven efficiency as morally uninhibited demagogues. Thus, democracy virtually assures that only bad and dangerous men will ever rise to the top of government.”

These bad and dangerous men have warped value systems that hinge on power and its extension. This makes them willing to sacrifice their constituencies for such ends as saving the Emir of Kuwait or supporting extreme right-wingers in Ukraine.

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2:09 pm on March 18, 2014