The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 THE ECONOMIC-POWER SYNDROME 219other's, except fragmentarily andtemporarily, and then only bybrute force, not by any othermeans. No matter how often personsmay be bombarded by an appealto buy Pepsodent, or.Colgate,or Crest, the actual decisions whenthey stand at the counter as towhether to buy toothpaste at alland, if so, which brand, must bemade inside each person's mind. Inall but the autonomous functionsof the body, human beings mustact, must choose, as Mises says,and their choices, their actions,proceed necessarily from within.Our limbs and organs are all inner-directed.Some weight might justly be accordedthe Galbraithian thesis ina socialist society, where controlof all production and all media ofcommunication were concentratedin the same men who controlledalso· the physical power of society.In such a society the faculty ofchoice would still remain, but itwould, so to speak, lack traction.It would have nowhere to go, likean automobile with bald tires onslick ice. The government controlof all media, from the schools totelevision, would come close tobrainwashing the public, and thelack of variety in·· consumer goodswould carry forward the demolitionof practical choice. Consumerswould still retain their indestructiblehumanity; notwithstandingthe brainwashing attempts,they would still have wantsand still have to make their ownchoices; but they would have littlescope to exercise their power orfa«ulty of choice.Even sO,however, traces of thesovereignty which is fully theirsin market economies would remainalso in socialist societies,·for solong as man is man, he mustchoose if he is to live. So, in Russiatoday, there are shortages insome lines of consumer goods andsurpluses in others. To that extent,the consumer remains king,even in Russia, though only inrags.In a market economy, the Galbraithianthesis makes no senseat all. The characteristic featuresof a market economy all tendtoward providing traction for thefaculty of subjective choice. Authorityto use physical force isconfined to the state. The media ofcommunication are free. The consumeris encouraged on all sidesto choose from a vast array ofcompeting goods and services.American Motors, Chrysler, Ford,and General Motors must not onlycompete with each other; theyhave also to contend with Volkswagen,Mercedes-Benz, Toyota,and Fiat. And all the motor companiesmust compete with the airlines,the bus lines, the railroads,the subway systems, as well as the