Planned Chaos by Ludwig von Mises

Planned Chaos Reviews

• 
  Christopher

  If I could start a “Socialist rehab” clinic, this is the book that would be handed out at orientation. Yes, this includes “Democratic Socialism” (here’s looking at you, Bernie Sanders supporters). Von Mises himself would say men like Bernie Sanders have a way with semantics – or changing the perceived meaning of certain terminology. I’ve heard much about Von Mises – both the man and the economist – after diving deeper into the subject of economics.
  
  Von Mises is the leader of the Austrian school. He appears time and again to be THE original source that all the noteworthy libertarian economists draw from – in both the Austrian School of Economics (i.e. Hayek), and the Chicago School (what I would call ‘the Austrian School lite’), i.e. Sowell, and Friedman.
  
  ........
  
  “They do not comprehend that profit and loss are the instruments by means of which the consumers keep a tight reign on all entrepreneurial activities. It is profits and loss which make the consumers SUPREME in the direction of business.”
  
  “It is the rule of law alone which hinders the rulers from turning themselves into the worst gangsters.”
  
  “Hitler was not the founder of Nazism, he was it’s product. He was, like most of its collaborators, a sadistic gangster. He was uneducated and ignorant. He had failed even in the lower grades of high school. He never had any honest job.”
  
  “Those fighting socialism do not reject socialism because they envy the benefits the workers could derive from the socialist mode of production. They fight socialism precisely because they are convinced that it would harm the masses in reducing them in the status of poor serfs, entirely at the mercy of irresponsible dictators.”
• 
  Patrick Peterson

  2021-01-16 I first read this little book as a junior or senior in college in the mid-70s. The reason was that I did not have time to read the whole of the book Socialism, for which it was designed to be an epilogue upon the 1947 Spanish translation edition publication. My friend Drew Silva who clued me in to both books said this little book was a great way to get the key ideas for the much bigger book, since I had too little time to digest the bigger book. He was right, it was a great intro... AND left me craving to read all of Socialism, which I did just a year or so later, and which has remained the best book I have ever read, period.
  
  The scope of this little book is pretty daunting, and it certainly is not exhaustive in dealing with the subject matter. But as a great intro it is just about perfect. I highly encourage folks to read this... and if it makes any sense to you at all, afterwards move on to read all of Socialism.
  
  Here are the chapter headings, just to give you an idea of it's scope:
  
  1. The Failure of Interventionism
  2. The Dictatorial, Anti-Democratic and Socialist Character of Interventionism
  3. Socialism and Communism
  4. Russia's Aggressiveness
  5. Trotsky's Heresy
  6. The Liberation of the Demons
  7 Fascism
  8 Nazism
  9. The Teachings of Soviet Experience
  10. The Alleged Inevitability of Socialism
  
  As I mentioned, the book was written in 1947, so some of the topics may seem not too pressing at the moment. But if one gets understanding of the key concepts from the book, and looks at the programs and philosophy of the modern counterparts to the historical individuals, parties and regimes mentioned in the book, one will be very well armed to deal with them appropriately.
  
  Good reading.
  
  
• 
  Mikel

  This book is fantastic. Everyone needs to read von Mises work to better understand what is happening all around them today.
• 
  Jon

  Great book. It was interesting to learn all the tidbits in history of the communists, socialists, fascists, and Nazis. I'll have to read this one again to get more out of it.
• 
  Charlene Mathe

  Excerpted from the 1951 book, "Socialism: an Economic and Sociological Analysis," I highly recommend this 83-page book for understanding issues and events in the present. Several topics developed in the book are of special interest to me:
  1. Von Mises explains the inevitable totalitarianism and economic failure of all socialized economies, where the market is managed by bureaucrats who become the ruling class. He coined the term "STATOLATRY" for the public reliance on government.
  2. Social Democracy/Socialism/Fascism vs International Communism. Communism IS Socialism; it was the USSR/United Soviet SOCIALIST Republics. Only political strategies separated them. Lenin and the Revolutionaries expected the Capitalist West to erupt in Revolution, as predicted by the Marxist "scientific" theory of historical materialism. In Lenin's view, what stood in the way of Revolution in the West was "Progressive" policies of Social Democrats/Fascists, such as Social Security and minimum wage. That is why radicals taking their orders from Moscow formed the ANTIFA opposition groups in Europe.
  3. As Fascism and later Nazism arose in Europe, Lenin's revolutionaries opposed them in the streets of Germany and Italy. They were the Anti-Fascists, or ANTIFA. Writing just after World War II, Von Mises clearly shows that Antifa radicals were Communist revolutionaries who opposed Nazis as competitors for leadership in undermining and replacing Western Capitalist democracies.
  In a later period (the 1970's and 80's), Antifa was exported to the West and influenced the SDS/Students for a Democrat Society and Black Panther movements. They are associated with opposition to Red Neck White Nationalists or "Nazis." But just like the original Antifa radicals, their real target is Western Capitalist democracies. As revolutionaries, their objectives are total takeover of government, and their tactics are anarchy and terrorism.
• 
  Aelena

  An excellent book where Mises presciently diagnoses (again) all things that are wrong with socialism, and masterfully unveils the deluded and misled thought of those who, in spite of evident failure, still spouse socialism in any of its variations.
  
  it's even better to read it today, as after the failure of communism everywhere it's been tried (be it the extinct and ruined industrial version USSR and its satellite countries, be it the agrarian versions from China or Cambodia, or be it the pathetic examples of Cuba and Venezuela) to great loss of life and generations that live in misery today, many so-called intellectuals not only still support it, but with increasing boldness dare to actually say it is the only way forward. After one century, it seems nothing has been learned from the impossibility of economic calculation in such systems.
  
  This book complements very well Mises' other book "economic calculation in the socialist commonwealth" where the failure of soviet economy is carefully exposed.
  
  In both books the lucid arguments put forward by Mises are impossible to refute.
  
  This is a great read, not only for socialists, who with their religious zeal are quite impossible to convince even with facts, but also for those who think intervention is a way out of the current crisis.
  
  As Mises already says, decades before this current crisis, this is not the crisis of capitalism, but the crisis of the interventionist socialist state.
• 
  Ietrio

  The writing style is quite terse, but the contents is fantastic. I have read the 1960s edition, but to describe so clearly the evolution post 1990s while just talking about the post-WWII Western World, it's amazing. What makes things even better for the book is the sad observation that most talks about the subject happening after the year 2010 are just rehashes of the same text.
• 
  Joshua

  An excellent primer on the history and ideological development of socialism (both national and international). This book serves as a broad attack on state control of the economy and a summary of the Austrian case for lassez faire. To explore these issues in more depth, I have Economic Calculation and Socialism by Mises on my tbr list for 2021.
• 
  David

  Very good yet short book. It's a pithy, well-articulated, and well-reasoned critique of socialism (and is actually excerpts, I believe, from his lengthier book, "Socialism"). Ludwig von Mises was sharp as a tack, and nothing was lost on him: The canards and shibboleths of the Marxists and socialists; the relationship between socialism and fascism; the zero-sum game that is government and liberty (the more government we have, the less liberty we have); the mutual-exclusivity of socialism and capitalism (i.e. a "mixed economy" is still socialism, and a path that leads to eventual totalitarianism); the reason there will always be shortages due to problems of economic calculation, under socialism. Etc. etc.
  Probably not for the absolute newcomer to economics, but who knows? For those, I'd suggest "Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow" by von Mises....or else Henry Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson."
• 
  Jack

  My first Mises
  
  This is my first von Mises book and it proved really useful. It provided a god historical background about worldwide initiatives to spread socialist economies. A key point that struck me as relevant to today is that communism, socialism and fascism rely on physical violence and end up under totalitarian control. I know that today’s so called democratic socialists don’t believe that, but history proves the point. I’m now inspired to delve into more of von Mises writings.
• 
  Pedro Angelico

  The world needs more of Ludwig Von Mises. This is a must read.
  
  This book develops a very well argument against Marxist theories and their ramifications (Leninism, fascism, Nazism, socialism, communism and interventionism).
  
  It was written in the 1960's but is more relevant than ever... a never ending battle of ideas. Hopefully liberty, freedom and personal choice will emerge victorious against tyrannical dictatorships, collectivism and fake utopias.
• 
  Majeed

  Amazing
• 
  Daniel Moss

  Decent little history of the ideas that led to the rise of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and the totalitarian state.
• 
  Dave McCracken

  A concise treatise on how socialism started, its tenets and tragedy for all its acolytes.This book was first published in 1947 shortly after WW2 where the author witnessed first hand the demise of two socialist sects Nazism, and Fascism whilst observing the devastating effect of communism the nirvana goal of socialism in the USSR.
  Ludwig Von Mises rose to be the world’s leading historian and critic of socialism. If you want to learn about socialism in a quick way, read this book. If you are looking for a deeper analysis on all political and economical aspects of socialism read his tome “Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis”.
  This analysis is timeless, some of the terminology may seem different to the contemporary reader, however that alone is a feature of socialism continuous changing language to conceal their agenda.
  Today’s Social Democrats, New Democratic or Liberals are in fact yesterday's Marxists under a different banner. Their policies remain nihilistic, economically unsound & disastrous the polar opposite of human nature. Ludwig Von vehemently condemns the intellectuals (university professors) whom pro port the virtues of socialism starting in the early 1950’s until his death. His prophecies have turned to reality throughout the 20th century and now two decades into the 21st century where once again civilization is endangered by radical left socialists with new names and promises of Diversity, Inclusivity, and Equity (DIE ideology) a socialist nirvana. Follow this cult at your peril.
  Highly recommended reading for those looking to understand the foundations of leftwing politics in these times.
• 
  Jeffrey

  A clear and concise linking of economics, human proclivities (of which socialism working because "It just hasn't been done right yet!", wars, death , trageties of the 20th century and humankinds very short memory...
  
  Sums about the last 10,000 years of human history...and explains why even in the face of previously unknown freedoms, social evolution and technological and economic stratospheric booms, that the there always remains that thought in the back of our minds that we fallible, often selfish creatures can create utopia.... when we end up losing the wonderfullness that we had....spiraling into CHAOS.
  
  And it's a planned, slowly circling the drain chaos...not stopped until catastrophe...Hiroshima, Third Reich...Venezuela....Cuba.....Pol Pot and Cambodia, North Korea, Jim Jones and "Jonestown"....
  
  Just the name....Jonestown should tell you of the selfishness....
  
  Why can't millionaire geniuses in Hollywood create local utupia with their own money... We could call in Weinsteintown...or DiCaprioville...
• 
  Bálint Táborszki

  It's one of my personal favorites from Mises. When I published the hungarian translation of this book I changed its title to "Epilogue to the 20th Century", partly because Planned Chaos just didn't translate well and partly because this little book - which was added as an epilogue to his book Socialism, the first paragraph of which rightfully exclaims that our century is the epoch of socialism - is a short summary of the grand political and ideological tides of the twentieth century from a classical liberal perspective. Reading it feels as if Mises, who lived through the worst of it in Europe until he fled to the US from Hitler as a highly wanted target of the nazis, would look back to what happened to explain it for those who werent there to witness that apocalypse.
  
  The chapter on the praxeological impossibility of socialism also serves as a great introduction to his economic thought, although I'm not sure his short summary of the epistemological position of economics and of the calculation problem is enough to convince a layman reader.
• 
  Ramy

  Out dated in its analysis as the time this book was written has ideological rivalry and many conclusion were too early to make without falling under ideological temptation. It has harsh critic of welfare states, describing them as dictatorial regimes with patriarchal state and such conclusion is not so accurate if one wants to apply it to 21st century. So far one can see that Scandinavian countries that falls under such categorization has much higher democratic rating and happiness than the United States that follows the model of the tradition of libertarianism, or at least the most libertarian than any other country on the world. Also, a great deal of the wealth that Western countries obtained historically is derived from colonialism, slavery, discoveries of new lands and industrialization rather than individual entrepreneurship.
• 
  Tomás

  Me encantó. Mises suele tener un estilo muy formal y académico que hace que la lectura sea densa y difícil. Como de costumbre, nos encontramos con un texto lleno de información, pero esta vez: corto, provocativo y entretenido.
  
  
• 
  Walter Eduardo Murillo

  Recomendado
• 
  Adam

  Still relevant in the 21st century, very clear and concise.
• 
  Chylene Ramsey

  Socialism the Destroyer of Nations
  
  There is good reason a whole Institute bears this man's name and an entire economic system formed around his core ideologies (the Austrian School). He strips the faux postures and pretensions from the pseudo-intellectuals goat rope they have jumbled into a mish mash of nonsensical gibbering jabber and called it Socialism and Progressive. It is anything but either. It is regression to the Starkly pagan barbarism of pre-civilized humanity, when Moloch demanded newborn babies be burned alive to please him, and progressives decided it was the Thing To Do. This Book should be read aloud by megaphone in every college campus three times a day from now until the Poseur is at last shamed into resigning.All wannabe intellectual s need to read this and know the real truth behind the rhetoric-- that socialism is a death trap for humanity and it was designed to be just that.
• 
  Bent Andreassen

  Denne korte boken ble utgitt på Nå Forlag i 1981 under med tittel 'Det planlagte kaos'. Den gir en glimrende innføring i hva som er galt med all kollektivistisk økonomisk tenkning, hva enten det er sosialisme, nazisme eller den sosialdemokratiske velferdsstat. Den gir også innsikt i hvorfor statlig økonomisk planlegging ikke viker - og ikke kan virke.
• 
  Craig Bolton

  Planned Chaos by Ludwig Von Mises (1981)
• 
  John Sharp

  Great Read. Highly recommended.
• 
  Korana

  A must read. Especially for capitalism opponents.
• 
  Brent

  Explains a lot about the economic, financial, and governmental problems we're facing today. An eye-opener!