I agree... it's a scary thing when popular myth becomes historical fact. It's gotten to the point where even self-professed conservatives talk about how great FDR was for the country.

This sort of history book bias needs to be addressed (but won't be, IMO) People cling to the myth of idolizing politicians after the details drift from living memory.

Oh, and Merry Christmas, Bob.
 

Great stuff, Bob.

Here's the speech for the next game:
Knute Rockne's "Win One for the Gipper" Speech (Sort Of)

Robert Murphy gave his "Win One for Mises" speech to the Austrian economists at the start of the year 2009. Murphy was trying to salvage something from his worst season as an Austrian economic leader. To inspire his readers he told them the story of the of the greatest economist ever. Ludwig von Mises. Although historians believe that it is doubtful that Murph's version of Mises' last words was true (or that Murphy ever met Mses), Austrian Economists buried Keynesianism in less than two years, after this speech.

Here is the speech.

Robert P. Murphy, Economist January 1, 2009

The scene opens with the interior of the Mises Institute. The students, seated with Human Action on their lap, are dejected and silent. The door pushes open and Murphy is wheeled in (Injured in a battle with Krugman). They look at Murphy in mute apology, then guiltily away, as if to avoid his eyes. His dark-circled eyes range over the students for a full moment of unbroken silence. Then, quietly, as if the economy and the country didn't matter to him:



MURPHY:

Well, boys ... I haven't a thing to say.
Played a great game...all of you. Great game.
(He tries to smile.)
I guess we just can't expect to win ‘em all.
(Murphy pauses and says quietly.)
I'm going to tell you something I've kept to myself for years --
None of you ever knew Ludwig von Mises.
It was long before your time.
But you know what a tradition he is at this Institute named after him...
(There is gentle, faraway look in his eyes as he recalls the boy's words.)
And the last thing he said to me -- "Murph," he said -
"sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the
breaks are beating the boys -- tell them to go out there
with all they got and win just one for Mises...
(Murph's eyes become misty and his voice is unsteady as he finishes.)
I don't know where I'll be then, Murph", he said - "but
I'll know about it - and I'll be happy."
There is a hushed stillness as Murphy and the crowd of boys look at each other. In the midst of this tense silence, Murphy quietly says "Alright," to the men beside him, and his chair is wheeled slowly out of the dressing room.

PLAYER # 12

Well, what are we waiting for?

With a single roar, the players rush through the doorway looking for Keynesians.
 

The recent ECONTALK podcast with Robert Higgs is a great place to start the fight back.

The host, Russ Roberts, made a point similar to Robert's that it is the mythology of the Great Depression that is the root cause of many modern problems.

I would add that Higg's analysis of World War Two and it's alleged role in the recovery from the Great Depression (and the non-Depression of 1947) is a matching set of myths.

Pointing to the much predicted but actually non-existing "Second Great Depression of 1947" is a great way of getting people to challenge their Keynesian illusions, to subject them to a real world test.

I think Zachary Kurtz is correct in pointing out how FDR idolatry is a problem. It would seem to me that the FDR revisionists, especially on Pearl Harbor, have the best of the argument. The pro-FDR schools want us to extend to him the benefit of the doubt in a way no serious historian would recommend when dealing with a contemporary politician.

Still a blunt revisionist challenge to heart felt mythology is as likely as not to alienate rather than communicate. Remember much FDR mythology is "family distributed" (passed down via family rather than school). So I'd recommend a "softly softly" approach as more likely to "win friends and influence people."

My recommended approach is to acknowledge the emotional but challenge the logical. Here's what I used to say to my (formerly FDR fan) father...

"FDR gave the American people 'hope' during the Great Depression, when they really wanted jobs and 'leadership' during WW2 when they really wanted peace."

I have found most FDR-philes will at least listen to arguments posed in that format.
 

For a good half-time speech, I'd suggest this read:

The Way Forward
 

Wenzel, are you pushing Republican propaganda here?!

Thanks for the posts guys. That Acton speech looks great; I opened it on my browser and will look at it tomorrow.
 

I think there's a rich vein in rhetoric. Should we stoop to call it Keynesian "Stimulus" or should we call it Keynesian "Central Planning"? Should we attack the economic effects of bailouts, subsidies, spending, or should we make references to egalitarian principles and bludgeon the capricious and inequitable nature of such spending? Shouldn't we reinforce the heroism of the individual? A fully confident public has little need for a powerful state.
 

There's a reason that liberals are so protective of their place in education. Propaganda works.

Liberals basically control education for a huge majority of Americans. The result of that is that many believe in the power of gov't to do all...to fix everything...to take care of everyone.

That leaves "us" with the difficult task of "converting" them.

One area of attack must be the education system. We cannot allow the young to be indoctrinated in the first place. Undoing that indoctrination is hard work.
 

Bob,
I enjoyed your post. I have thought about this issue off and on over the past year after I first heard about Ron Paul. Unfortunately, as others have commented this is not a simple task of explaining free market principles to the masses and having them "buy-in." You are talking about shifting the way an entire culture thinks about work, business, the economy, the government and the concept of liberty. In short, the world view of our society needs to change. I distinctly remember sitting in Hans Senholz Basic Econ class at Grove City College and being "blown away" by his explanation of free markets. I had never heard anything like it. But as I sat there with my world view being changed many of my classmates just couldn't see it and they would argue and loudly disagree with him.
The Libertarian movement needs a single coherent voice that firstly reasonable and coherent and secondly is prepared for a long cultural uphill battle much like the one fought by the NAACP. I don't recall where I heard this and I probably don't have the particulars correct but when the NAACP was formed in the 1920's they put together a 30-year plan to provide equality in the United States for African Americans. Their plan involved winning legal and sociolagical battles, fighting and winning the small ones first then going after the bigger battles. The concepts of such equality took decades to formulate in the minds of the majority of the whites but it first happened with the intellectual and cultural elites. And it didn't just happen in the courts, it happened in books, in theater and in movies (such as "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"). I believe this recession and the Government's intervention provides us with the greatest opportunity in the last 100 years to put into place the building blocks necessary to change our societies' mindset regarding the need for government to regulate the economy. I think there are a number of small battles that can be fought and won that will help build towards bigger gains in the future. Heck, look at how much support Ron Paul garnered by supporting Libertarian principles and supporting getting us out of Iraq.
 

"One area of attack must be the education system. We cannot allow the young to be indoctrinated in the first place. Undoing that indoctrination is hard work."

Does anyone know if the home-school market for economics materials is already tapped or saturated? It seems like a prime place to start since these parents are clearly skeptical of government education to begin with.
 

Brian,
We are avid home schoolers and, to my knowledge, I don't think economics is heavily covered by home schoolers. Much like it is not heavily covered in most high school curriculums. I think it has a lot of potential. I think most home schoolers tend to have a more "take responsibility for your own actions" and "the less government the better" worldview.
 

Gene Callahan's book "Economics for Real People" and Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson" are pretty much all you need for home schooling at the high school level. I agree a full curriculum would be good, but there is already enough there to start with. I used those two and Sowell's "Basic Economics" and "Applied Economics" with my son.

I think we need Ralph Raico and Tom Woods to write good history books, not just "this is what is wrong with the bad guys' books" but a full curricula so it is all in one place with a coherent world view. This may exist elsewhere, but unfortunately I didn't discover Mises.org until after my son had finished all but his last year of high school and was through history so I don't claim to be fully aware of what is available.

The problem is that the home schoolers I know (and I know a lot) hated Clinton but loved Bush and apologize for him to no end. You can say bad things about the government when Obama is in office, but not when Bush is. This comes from the parents having had the government's version of history, I think. The idolatry of Reagan is unseemly. I liked him, too, but I've seen his enormous warts for a while.

Jim O'Connor
The Colony, Texas
 

Jim,

I'll have to check out Callahan's book. I have Hazlitt's already. Books are good, but more application and drill would be helpful to many parents not well versed in economics.

On the other stuff, my two sons are going to be homeschooled, so I have a vested interest in seeing better materials being available.
 

Hey guys,

Not sure if you know about it, but I developed a Home Study Course for Austrian economics. It's pricey, but it definitely would bring someone up to speed.

I'm not sure if LvMI has put the curriculum online; a lot (all?) of the source materials are.