The Free Market: Fallacies and Facts

Barry

Friendly advice:

1) Many audiences do not like to hear that the speaker they are listening to has just very recently and rapidly prepared his remarks. In a way, it is slightly insulting to them. So whether true or not, better to pretend like you spent a year drafting your speech.

2) Your intro is a bit too long. It takes you about 10 minutes to get to the substance of your remarks.

Please do not be insulted by these comments. It’s always easier to criticize than to do. I know that. I’m simply trying to offer my advice for whatever it’s worth because I think it might make you even better than your currently are. So please, take these comments in the spirit that they are offered.

http://www.TomWoods.com Tom Woods

I do public speaking all the time. Check YouTube if you don’t believe me. I hardly ever take so long to get going, so (2) is unnecessary.

As for (1), given that I had almost no notice, I think most people are decent enough to be more understanding than you give them credit for.

Greg

Very interesting as usual. Out of all the public speakers in the libertarian universe woods is surely by far the best. It would be nice if woods gave Ron Paul a few lessons.

Huffy

Great presentation, as always! Kudos!!

I am always amazed that so many people continue to believe that Government is somehow magically divorced from the people who make it up. There is no such thing in the real world as “government” just as there is no such thing as Santa Claus.

Government is just a group of people who have gotten the power to force other people to act in certain ways. Since governments consist of people, governments will always reflect the failings of people.

The people who “attack” those of us who want the least government, seem to ALWAYS ignore this fact of life. These people fool themselves into thinking that a benign savior exists in the form of government and “the Government” will protect them from the unpleasant aspects of life. In fact, the power of government attracts corrupt people who align with the powerful and greedy in the private sector to extract wealth from the masses and to control their lives in order to retain their power.

Sadly, there is no perfect solution to living together in harmony and to mutual benefit because people are selfish and some people are corrupt and evil. As Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” There is a continuum from zero power to absolute power. As you move along that continuum you increase corruption with power. Government represents power. More government means more power and, hence, more corruption.

Recognizing this basic fact of humanity, the philosophy of minimal government was adopted when the Constitution was ratified. It’s not perfect, but it’s far better than the alternatives.

Those who attack you in this way are sadly living in a fantasy world where someone will take care of them from cradle to grave. It is understandable, but it’s very naive and very immature thinking…

Anonymous

I was going to make this comment before listening to the speech. But I got distracted and have now listened to the speech.

1. I have a Murray Rothbard lecture on audio tape from back in 1973. During the lecture, he’s explaining the difference between scarce economic goods and non-scarce goods. He gives an example that if you could just wish for the Pepsi and it just came flowing into your mouth, that would be a non-scarce good. He called it the Pepsi model of economics, which he said is also known as the “Garden of Eden” model of economics.

2. I forgot to listen to the Houston speeches live last Saturday. I was thinking that I would subsequently forget to find them and listen to them when they became available on mises.org.

3. I noticed your posted video here on your blog and thought about hunting for the audio versions on mises.org.

4. At the same time, I had just opened my iTunes program and noticed that the Houston speeches were all miraculously downloading into my podcast folder. Kinda like the Garden of Eden model of economics.

http://www.praxacademy.com Rothbardian

This is great. I was there, but I plan to watch this at least once a week. Maybe even download it to my iphone to listen to while I drive. I loved the part about sitting there being amazed at the vaporizer, because I do the same thing sometimes. Heck, its amazing that I am typing this from a wireless computer while I watch videos on some far away video database. Unbelievable! Thanks for the entertaining and intelligent speech.

http://twitter.com/TomRStone Thomas Stone

Hi Thomas,

It is almost three years old now, and perhaps you have seen this classic clip from Louis CK on Conan O’Brien’s show… it a must see! His routine here, his specific examples, and his sense of humor in general is very much in line with your message in the second half of your presentation here — and with the kind of examples/mesage you often give in other talks as well.

Everythings Amazing, But Nobody’s Happy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

Great clip… one that I re-watch a few times a year, especially before I’m about to go on a business trip or whatnot.

Could be some good examples here for you to use in the future, or perhaps this video will get your creative brain thinking of some more like them.

– Tom Stone

http://sunnyrobinson.com Sunny Robinson

Friendly advice for Barry:

1) Offering such weak, unsolicited advise to a renowned public speaker/debater is laughable at best. It did however, provide a bit of comic relief for anyone even vaguely familiar with Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

2) And don’t kid yourself, your comments couldn’t insult Dr. Woods.