Here Is One of My Best Scholarly Papers, Ever

I have published roughly 600 papers in refereed journals. This is one of my very, very best:

Levendis, John, Walter E. Block and Robert B. Eckhardt.  2019. “Evolutionary psychology, economic freedom, trade and benevolence.” Review of Economic Perspectives – Národohospodářský obzor; Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 73-92; https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/revecp/19/2/article-p73.xml; 10.2478/revecp-2019-0005; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/revecp-2019-0005

Not only it is exceedingly well done in my humble modest opinion, but it focusses on perhaps one of the most important issues in our intellectual and professional lives: why have we not had more success than we have.

It makes the case for pessimism for our Austro-libertarian movement. My co -authors and I claim that the reason, in effect, Ron Paul is not now president, and the Mises Institute has not yet dissolved since it is no longer needed, because everyone supports Anarcho-capitalism, is, wait for it, biological. We are hard-wired against economic freeom. Thus, we are in my estimation, continually pushing the rock of Sisyphus up the mountain, and watching it roll back down again. Hayek once said that each generation must fight the same battles for economic freedom as the one before. No words were ever more truly spoken.

Pessimism? Yes. But, should we give up the battle? Not on your life. There are several reasons.

1. It is just so much FUN to promote liberty and good (Austrian) economics

2. It is GREAT to tweak noses, intellectually, of course.

3. It is EXHILERATING to get that proverbial one millionth of an inch closer to the TRUTH

4. Murray is up there somewhere, looking down upon us, and I want him to smile when he witnesses our efforts.

5. Murray has passed on the baton of liberty to me and Austro-libertarians of my generation. We are duty-bound to continue this process with the next generation, whether or not we succeed in our dreams of promoting liberty.

Hopefully, this article of mine will reduce burn-out, not increase it. After reading it, people are even less likely to think that total victory is around the corner. No, we are running an ultra-ultra marathon, not a sprint. If we do not expect a libertarian society in the next little while, we will be less disappointed when it does not occur.

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1:35 am on June 28, 2019