Monday, October 26, 2009

LvM Lays Down the Smack

My man, Ludwig von Mises, lays down the smack.

I think. I don't actually understand what all of this means:

"It was a purposeful confusion on the part of the German metaphysicians of statolatry that they clothe all men in the government service with the gloriole of such altruistic self-sacrifice. From the writings of German etatists the civil servant emerges as a saintly being, a sort of monk who forsook all earthly pleasure and all personal happiness in order to serve, to the best of his abilities, God's lieutenant, once the Hohenzollern king and today the Fuehrer. The Staatsbeamte does not work for pay because no salary however large could be considered an adequate reward for the invaluable and priceless benefits that society derives from his self-denying sacrifice. Society owes him no pay but a maintenance adequate to his rank in the official hierarchy. It is a misnomer to call this maintenance a salary" (Ludwig von Mises, 1944, OMNIPOTENT GOVERNMENT)

Der Geist points out that I am an ignoramus for not knowing that "statolatry" is a word. I am afraid Der Geist is correct.

3 comments:

Luc Perkins said...

No no no, you misunderstood. The "you" was more of an impersonal pronoun. I was also unaware of said word. But it is fabulous.

Eric H said...

Ahh...gloriole

John Covil said...

Ahh...gloriole

What do the Harrelson Hall bathrooms have to do with anything?