Skip to main content

The Torah of Geopolitics

The following is an excerpt from J.R. Nyquist's recent article, "The Torah of Geopolitics":

While on a trip to Israel reporters asked Milton Friedman to explain “the whole Torah” of economics while standing on one foot. Friedman simply said, “There is no such thing as a free lunch, and all the rest is merely an explanation.” Taking this as a point of departure we may speculate as follows: If reporters had asked Niccolo Machiavelli about the “Torah” of politics he might have held up one foot and said, “Politics is about gaining and holding power, and all the rest is merely explanation.” If Robert Michels were asked to comment further, he might have explained that democracy is merely another way of organizing oligarchy. Americans are taught to regard democracy as a good and noble thing, but democracy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The authors of the U.S. Constitution feared democracy, even as the ancients called it the worst form of government.

I find this interesting due to the persistant myth, widely held among peoples of the North American and European continents, that democracy is so glorious its form must be brought to distant lands as a cure for the ills of savage, backwards societies. This change from above in favor of democracy should even be imposed by force, the thinking holds, if necessary to secure a "better life" for the poor subjects of a nation controlled by despotic rulers.

My personal feeling is that even if we were to stumble on the perfect form of governance, it would be folly for one group to try and force the system on another. If we've truly discovered the touchstone of human/political organization it would be adopted by those who are ready to accept it, demand it, or stand up and fight for it.

What do we in the meantime with our supposed "good intentions?". I am not a political thinker or world traveler. I have no great insight into the workings of the world. All I know is what I can see, hear, and sense. The world seems to direct its energy towards a great homogenization and a creation of some worldwide standard. One common currency, one government, one international "peacekeeping force", one accepted manner of dress. The doctrine of political correctness has been instrumental in laying down one prescribed manner of thought. Religious war also seems to be a long running thread in this overarching theme.

We have taken these "grand ideals" and built up towering infrastructures around them. What would happen if we took a wrecking ball to this tottering mass? Could we learn to live by the principles of free association and the golden rule? Some might claim this is not a reasonable scenario. If this is the case, then do we really think that peace and liberty are sustainable in the world we have today?

I wonder if there is some truth to what Hans-Herman Hoppe said in an Austrian Economics Newsletter interview:


It is a ridiculous idea that we need the state to tell social authorities that they need to adhere to a uniform set of rules and obey a single master. Society does not need uniform modes of association. Market exchange makes social harmony possible even within the framework of radical diversity.

Today's so-called multiculturalists don't see that there is a difference between having a globe with many different cultures and imposing that diversity on each point on the globe. It is a difference between a regime of private property and a statist regime where the rest of us merely obey. Ultimately, those are the only two systems from which we have to choose.

Popular posts from this blog

Seth Klarman: Margin of Safety (pdf)

Welcome, readers! Signup for free email updates at the Finance Trends Newsletter . Update: PDF links removed due to DMCA notice. Please see our extensive Klarman book notes below. New visitors, please check the Finance Trends home page for all new posts. Here's something for anyone who has been trying to get a look at Seth Klarman's now famous, and out of print, 1991 investment book, Margin of Safety .  My knowledge of value investing is pretty much limited to what I've read in Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor (the book which originally popularized the investment concept of a "Margin of Safety"), so check out the wisdom from Seth Klarman and other investing greats in our related posts below. You can also go straight to Ronald Redfield's Margin of Safety book notes .    Related posts: 1. Seth Klarman interviews and Margin of Safety notes     2. Seth Klarman: Lessons from 2008 3. Investing Lessons from Sir John Templeton 4.

Slate profiles Victor Niederhoffer

Slate's recent profile of writer/speculator, Vic Niederhoffer has been getting some attention from traders and finance types in recent days. I thought we'd take a look at it here too, to offer up some possible educational value from Vic's experiences with trading and loss. Here's an excerpt from Slate's profile of Victor Niederhoffer : " I've enjoyed getting your e-mails. It sounds like you've thought a lot about being wrong. Well, the reason you contacted me, to call a spade a spade, is that I'm sort of infamous for having made a big, notorious, terrible error not once but twice in my market career. Let's talk about those errors. The first was your investment in the Thai baht, which pretty much wiped you out when the Thai stock market crashed in 1997. I made so many errors there it's pathetic. I made one of my favorite errors: "The mouse with one hole is quickly cornered." That is key. There are certain decisions you make in li

Moneyball: How the Red Sox Win Championships

Welcome, readers . T o get the first look at brand new posts (like the following piece) and to receive our exclusive email list updates, please subscribe to the Finance Trends Newsletter .   The Boston Red Sox won their fourth World Series title of t he 21st century this we ek. Having won their first Se ries in 86 years back in 200 4, the last decade-plus has marked a very strong return to form for one of baseball's oldest big league clubs. So how did they do it? Quick background: in late 2002, team own er and hedge fund manager, John W. Henry (with his partners ) bought the Boston Red Sox and its historic Fenway Park for a reported sum of $ 695 million. Henry and Co. quickly set out to find their ideal General Manager (GM) to help turn around their newly acquired, ailing ship. This brings us to one of my fav orite scenes from the 2011 film , Moneyball , in which John W. Henry (played by Ar liss Howard) attempts to woo Oakland A's GM Billy Beane (Brad Pi