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Democracy: The God That Failed - The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order | 
 enlarge | Author: Hans-hermann Hoppe
Publisher: Transaction Publishers,U.S.
Category: Book
Buy New: £21.50
Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 258574
Media: Paperback
Pages: 220
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 0765808684
Dewey Decimal Number: 321.8
EAN: 9780765808684
ASIN: 0765808684
Publication Date: October 31, 2001
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Butchering the holy cow of modern political thought September 27, 2004
Peter Bjorn Perlso (Denmark, Europe)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I won't say a lot, but I'll say this:
Some years back; I don't remember why I bought the book (I must have been on the recommendation of a friend), and it stood unread on my shelf for some time, before i finally picked it up. The title was provoking, as I was still a firm believer in democracy before I read it, but when I finally turned the first pages, I got hooked - it was like new doors of knowledge were opening up for me, and it was disconcerting, because (as many others who read this book can attest to, I'm sure), the message of the book broke down the political illusions we create for ourselves. And the more I read, the more I realized that a blind faith in democracy today is just as bad as outright supporting tyranny.
H.H. Hoppe convincingly shows how the rise of democracy (publically "owned" government, as opposed to privately owned government, such as monarchies) around the start of the 20th century has resulted in a massive success for socialism (and thus erosion of private property rights), and a dire failure of sound financial and monetary policies. And, of course, the eternal growth of the state, which is now invading more and more of our personal lives and taking away our economic freedoms.
You should not read this if you are reluctant to have your political opinions challenged. Read it enough, and you may become an anarchist - consider yourself warned!
Democracy: caveat emptor :-). September 28, 2007
S Smyth (Belfast, Co Antrim United Kingdom)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I liked this clearly writtten book with its novel viewpoint and analysis about the perils of government which is not limited in its scope and is firmly believed to be acting for the good by way of democracy. It occurred to me after reading chapter 1 that the current situation in Burma is simply the Junta exercising its high time preference to leapfrog the democratic process and go straight to the logical consequences of contemporary democracy. This would be a valuable book for the Burmese pro-democracy leadership to read, so that they might not repeat the mistakes of the world's most recently liberated states.
The conclusion that the state should be replaced by insurance companies and contracts is reasonable, and does currently work in certain classes of international business activity to circumvent the complications and delays of inter-state law, but I suspect--if computer security is anything to judge by--security and sophisticated scare-mongering would become a dominant preoccupation and divert capital from more productive activity.
The state as a monopoly is democratically granted its temporary monopoly, and although any constitution is simply a piece of paper which may be capable of abuse by interpretation and manipulation, it is up to the electorate to exercise good judgement in their electoral choices. Which is another good reason for many to read this book at this juncture in time. Furthermore--as a crude metaphor--just because a metal ladder doesn't specify that it should not be leaned against overhead electricity cables, sufficient 'a priori' knowledge should avoid this from happening instead of having to legislate for the banning of metal ladders and pursue claims for damage or death through the courts and seek compensation by way of insurance.
 A Modern Classic? - Time Will Tell March 11, 2002
Jack E. Heald (Arizona)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
Hoppe is not afraid to butcher, bleed and shrink-wrap that most sacred of sacred cows - democracy. As the title suggests, Hoppe considers democracy to be a horrible step backward in the evolution of human government, and he makes a compelling case for his thesis.The book is actually a series of essays on the nature of government and economics, each of which stands on its own. However, the book is better consumed as a whole because he builds the case against democracy in an orderly, rational - an imminently readable - manner. This would be a good book if Hoppe did nothing more than skewer western civilisation's sacrosanct belief in the innate superiority of democracy over other forms of government. He does that quite well, thank you. But what sets DTGTF above your typical run-of-the-mill libertarian cant is that Hoppe not only destroys the theoretical foundations of democracy but also actually provides the theoretical and practical framework for an alternative form of government that might actually work. I digested this book slowly over a couple of months' time just because my little mind needed the extra time to get wrapped around new and rather startling ideas. While not lengthy, it is extensively footnoted, and the footnotes alone make compelling reading. DTGTF is not a perfect work, but then the subject does not lend itself to perfection. I would liken this work to that which a road builder undertakes when blasting a tunnel through a mountain. Dynamite does not lend itself to finely detailed work, but if you need to blow a hole through a mountain of faulty beliefs, nothing does the job quite like dynamite. Recommended with no reservations.
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