The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

658 THE FREEMAN Novemberously attacked the aristocratic socialmovement as a potential threatto their own program. Actually,most of the leading minds ofChristian anticapitalist thought(equally opposed to socialism)were aristocrats: Villeneuve-Bargemont, de Mun, Liechtenstein,Vogelsang, Ketteler.Bias Against CapitalismNot of Worker OriginArmin Mohler, the brilliantSwiss-German neo-conservative,has recently explained that one ofthe weakest points of contemporaryconservative thought, stillwrapped in the threads of its ownobsolete agrarian romanticism, isits hostility against modern technology.How right he is! The exceptionmight have been Italy withits tradition of urban nobility andof patricians who, even before theReformation, engaged in tradeand manufacture. Capitalism, indeed,is of North-Italian origin. Itwas a Franciscan, Fra Luigi diPacioli, who invented double-entrybookkeeping. Calvinism gave anew impetus to capitalism but didnot invent it. (Aristocratic entrepreneursin Italy? Count Marzottowith his highly diversified businessempire of textile plants, papermills, hotel· chains and fisheriesis a typical example. His laborrelations are of a patriarchal natureinvolving substantial fringebenefits which also characterizeJapanese business practice.)The real animosity against freeenterprise did not originate withthe laborers. Bear in mind that inthe early nineteenth century theworking class was miserably paid,and this for two reasons: (1) theincome from manufacturing wasquite limited (true mass productioncame later) and (2) the lion'sshare of the profits went into reinvestmentswhile the typical manufact~rerslived rather modestly. Itis this ascetic policy of early Europeancapitalism which madepossible the phenomenal rise ofworking class standards. Seeingthat the manufacturers did notlive a life of splendor (as did thebig landowners) the workers atfirst viewed their lot with surprisingequanimity. The Socialist impetuscame from middle class intellectuals,eccentric industrialists(like Robert Owen and Engels)2nd impoverished noblemen witha feeling of resentment against theexisting order.As one can imagine, the artificiallycreated ire then was turnedfirst against the manufacturerwho, after all, is nothing but somesort of broker between the workerand the public. He enables theworker to transform his work intogoods. In this process he incursvarious expenses, such as for tools,and a part of the costs of market-