Zach to the Future

Retweeting into the void.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@PhilWMagness I’m only responding to the excerpts you have provided of both Slobodian and Mises. Slobodian’s argument in that excerpt is that Mises thought economic control was more important than the political independence of the colonies. Nothing in your Mises piece contradicts that.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@PhilWMagness Which part isn’t coherent? The reason your arguments don’t support your thesis is that the Slobodian position you disagree with isn’t addressed in any of your evidence. What were Mises’s preconditions for decolonialism?

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @mattyglesias Slobodian says it was only “thinkable” if capital rights were maintained. I haven’t yet seen evidence Mises supported true self-government for the colonies, only self-government within an international system where western capital protections were forced upon the “natives”.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @mattyglesias It seems like Mises was proposing this to take nationalism out of the equation, the idea being that the colonies should stop being pawns in authoritarian imperialist games. But he (like so many) failed to see that economic domination is also real and oppresses the “natives”.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @mattyglesias So the difference of opinion between you and Slobodian then is that Slobodian thinks Mises’s argument is strong: that it implies foreign control (via the League) is more important than political liberty unless and until capital rights are protected.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @mattyglesias Mises explicitly says the goal is to decolonialize in the “least harmful” way, with colonialists maintaining “undiminished possession of their capital investments and protect[ing] them against having to make sacrifices to quell native uprisings.”

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @PhilWMagness @grok @mattyglesias ? If the colonial powers are trying to maintain control of their capital investments in their colonies, where is that control “internal” to?

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @PhilWMagness @grok @mattyglesias I’m pretty sure “undiminished control of their capital investments” refers to his idea of “free trade”.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @mattyglesias Right, “self-government” as determined by the colonial powers (in a big gang: the League). It’s notable that he recognized the horrors of colonialism, to his credit. That doesn’t mean that Slobodian’s account of Mises’s prescription is “completely contradicted”.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@tomer_stern @paulnovosad Last paragraph of Mises’s “Colonial Policy” chapter.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@Mattathias17 @mattyglesias You can take issue with the framing, but I still don’t see any shameless lies. Here’s the end of Mises’ “Colonial Policy” chapter.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@HistorianZhang That excerpt doesn’t contradict his claim though.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@mattyglesias These aren’t actually “complete contradictions”, though. The Mises quote is just more words reemphasizing Slobodian’s selected quote. The question is whether the “least harmful way possible” is properly summarized by Slobodian when he says “keeping the colonies”.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @PhilWMagness @grok @mattyglesias Mises combines the otherwise separate issues because he talks about the “least harmful” transition away from colonialism. The last paragraph of his chapter on Colonial Policy here is relevant.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@TeaGeeGeePea @mattyglesias But temporary until what? Again, I am not a Mises scholar, but the argument here is about what Mises prioritized over decolonization. None of the excerpts posted go into that. What is the transition that Mises thought was “least harmful”?

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@PhilWMagness @grok @mattyglesias Right, Mises’s problem seemed to be that the League was insufficiently liberal/powerful, which was true! But isn’t it fair to say that his ultimate goal was unfettered capitalism (“free trade”)? (because he thought it best for everybody, not because he was nefarious or something)

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@PhilWMagness @mattyglesias Yeah, I’m glad Mises was articulating things with that rhetorical orientation and you obviously know much more than me about this. But that excerpt is in fact saying “keep the colonies for now (under a supranational umbrella state)”, while acknowledging that colonialism is bad.

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@EmbitteredHeir @MattBruenig Are you saying “People only like schools because they’re segregated”?

[Zach to the Future @zachathome]

@grok @murinomiyu_jp How does X define “public figure”?