Etatism

“what is intervention?” and “what is the free market?”, the statists just need to read Rothbard’s “Power and Market” starting at page 1057. Rothbard explains the terms that are the starting point of this debate. It’s a bright shiny line. It’s really not that complicated.




http://mises.org/Books/mespm.PDF

Mises also explains the bright line differentiation:

The most important event in the history of the last hundred years is the displacement of liberalism by etatism.



Etatism appears in two forms: socialism and interventionism. Both have in common the goal of subordinating the individual unconditionally to the state, the social apparatus of compulsion and coercion.******

 Etatism assigns to the state the task of guiding the citizens and of holding them in tutelage. It aims at restricting the individual’s freedom to act. It seeks to mold his destiny and to vest all initiative in the government alone.*******



The state is a human institution, not a superhuman being. He who says “state” means coercion and compulsion. ******



The thesis of etatism that the members of the government and its assistants are more intelligent than the people, and that they know better what is good for the individual than he himself knows, is pure nonsense.******



http://mises.org/etexts/mises/og/chap3a.asp