The anticapitalistic mentality

[Front Matter and Table of Contents]: Title page, copyright information, and a detailed table of contents for Ludwig von Mises' 'The Anticapitalistic Mentality'. It outlines the five main chapters covering the social characteristics of capitalism, the social philosophy of the common man, literature under capitalism, noneconomic objections, and the conflict between anticommunism and capitalism. [Introduction: The Paradox of Anticapitalism]: Mises introduces the central paradox of the modern era: while capitalism has uniquely raised living standards and population figures, it is passionately loathed by many, particularly intellectuals. He identifies a pervasive bias that attributes all social ills to capitalism while crediting progress to other factors, setting the stage for an analysis of the psychological roots of this mentality. [The Sovereign Consumer and the Urge for Economic Betterment]: Mises defines the core feature of capitalism as mass production for the masses, where the 'common man' acts as the sovereign consumer whose purchasing decisions dictate production. He argues that the human drive for material improvement is natural and that capital accumulation is the only means to achieve it, despite the popularity of ideologies that advocate for its destruction. [Status Society versus Capitalistic Meritocracy]: This section contrasts the rigid, hereditary nature of status societies with the fluid, consumer-driven wealth of capitalism. Mises explains that in a market economy, wealth is a social function subject to the daily plebiscite of consumers, and that the abolition of legal privileges has 'atomized' society into a meritocracy where success depends on serving others' wants. [The Psychology of Resentment and Frustrated Ambition]: Mises explores the psychological toll of living in a society where success is based on merit. He argues that because capitalism allows for opportunity, failure is perceived as a personal shortcoming, leading individuals to develop resentment and adopt anticapitalistic philosophies as a defense mechanism to preserve their self-esteem and find a scapegoat for their frustrated ambitions. [The Resentment of Intellectuals and the American Social Scene]: Mises analyzes why intellectuals are particularly prone to anticapitalism, attributing it to their personal contact with more successful peers and a resulting sense of humiliation. He notes that this bias is especially strong in the United States because of a social segregation between the 'wealthy' and the 'intellectuals,' which leads the latter to view businessmen as barbarians and sympathize with socialism. [The Resentment of White-Collar Workers and the 'Cousins']: Mises discusses the frustrations of clerical workers who overrate their routine tasks and the 'cousins' in wealthy families who, lacking entrepreneurial talent, resent the 'bosses' who control the family firm. He uses Lenin's simplified view of business as 'accounting and control' to illustrate the clerk's misunderstanding of the entrepreneurial function and explains how disgruntled family members often fund 'progressive' and communist causes. [The Communism of Broadway and Hollywood]: Mises examines why the highly-paid entertainment industry is a 'hotbed of communism.' He argues that the extreme volatility of public taste in show business creates a deep sense of insecurity and anxiety among performers and authors, who then look to communism as a mythical system that might provide relief from the 'whims and fancies' of the sovereign consumer. [The Common Man's Misconceptions of Economics]: Mises critiques the popular view that economic progress is a self-acting, inevitable force of nature. He argues that the 'common man' and Marxian theory wrongly attribute rising living standards to 'progress' or labor productivity alone, while ignoring the essential roles of capital accumulation, saving, and the entrepreneurial application of technology within a framework of private property. [The Anticapitalistic Front and the Role of Envy]: Mises describes the broad coalition against the market economy, including aristocrats, the clergy, and political leaders who joined the socialist cause out of resentment and envy. He argues that people are not socialists because they understand the system, but because they are blinded by ignorance and a refusal to acknowledge that capitalism provides a higher standard of living than the 'socialist paradise.' [Literature Under Capitalism: The Market and the Dissenter]: Mises discusses the transition of literature from a system of aristocratic patronage to a market-based commodity. While capitalism has created a massive market for books and made authors independent of despots, Mises notes that the 'sovereign consumer' often prefers trashy fiction over the works of innovators and dissenters, who frequently remain obscure during their lifetimes. [The Detective Story and the Freedom of the Press]: Mises provides a psychological analysis of the detective story as a medium for the frustrated man to vicariously unmask successful rivals. He then transitions to a defense of the freedom of the press, warning that as nations move toward socialism and the welfare state, new forms of censorship—such as boycotts by labor unions and the sacrosanct status of bureaucrats—are stifling satire and free expression. [The Bigotry of the Literati]: Mises critiques the 'progressive' intellectuals who dominate public opinion by enforcing an intolerant orthodoxy of socialist and interventionist dogmas. He argues that there is no fundamental economic difference between socialism, communism, and the welfare state, as all involve the substitution of government planning for individual discretion. He refutes three core errors of this ideology: the belief that the social conflict is over income distribution rather than economic systems, the false distinction between socialism and communism, and the myth of a 'middle-of-the-road' mixed economy. He concludes that interventionism is untenable and inevitably leads toward full socialism. [The “Social” Novels and Plays]: This section examines how literature and drama have been co-opted for anti-capitalistic propaganda. Mises divides 'proletarian' authors into two groups: those from bourgeois backgrounds who conduct biased research to confirm Marxian dogmas of misery, and those from working-class backgrounds who often write insincere 'social' homiletics that contradict their own upward mobility. He highlights the work of Émile Zola as a template for this genre and criticizes the stereotypical depiction of businessmen as 'robber barons' or 'financial gangsters' who succeed only through fraud and corruption. [The Noneconomic Objections to Capitalism: Happiness and Materialism]: Mises addresses the philosophical and aesthetic critiques of capitalism. He refutes the 'argument of happiness' by noting that capitalism successfully removes felt uneasiness, such as infant mortality and penury, which are objective improvements to well-being. Regarding the charge of 'mean materialism,' he argues that the age of capitalism has been a period of immense artistic and scientific achievement, particularly in music and literature. He explains that the perceived decay in architecture is due to the shift from royal/despotic patronage to a market where wealth is more widely distributed and committees favor conservative styles. [Injustice and the Productivity of Labor]: Mises challenges the notion that capitalism is 'unjust' and that nature is bountiful. He argues that wealth is not a gift of nature but a result of human cooperation and capital accumulation through saving. He explains that higher wage rates in the West are not due to the individual worker's superior merit but to the higher marginal productivity of labor caused by an abundance of capital equipment. He asserts that the poverty of backward nations in Asia and Africa is the result of their own anti-capitalistic policies which prevent capital investment, and that the only remedy is the adoption of laissez-faire capitalism. [Liberty and Western Civilization]: Mises explores the historical and economic roots of liberty, identifying it as a uniquely Western concept originating in ancient Greece. He argues that political liberty is only possible within a market economy, where the competitive system protects individuals from the arbitrary power of the state. He critiques modern intellectuals like Harold Laski who attempt to redefine liberty to be compatible with socialism. Using the life of Karl Marx in Victorian England as a counter-example to Soviet repression, Mises demonstrates that capitalism allows for dissent while socialism necessitates slavery and the liquidation of opposition. [“Anticommunism” versus Capitalism]: In the concluding section, Mises analyzes the rise of 'anti-anticommunism' and the destructive influence of George Sorel’s syndicalism. He argues that many self-styled 'anticommunist liberals' actually support the core tenets of the Communist Manifesto and merely object to a system where they are not in control. He warns that a purely negative 'anti-something' movement cannot succeed; the only way to prevent the spread of Soviet-style barbarism is through the positive, unrestricted support of laissez-faire capitalism. He emphasizes that freedom is indivisible and must be granted even to the 'decadent' to ensure the creative genius can flourish. [Index]: Alphabetical index of names and subjects appearing in the text, including key figures like Marx, Laski, and Sorel, and topics such as liberty, architecture, and productivity.