Tag Archives: Ludwig von Mises

Libertarian Transformers

March 9, 2019 Mahesh Sreekandath

For some reason people gasp when I mention the dominant Libertarian themes in Transformers 4 : Age of Extinction. Buried beneath inane comedy and not so sleek Budweiser advertisements are some stunning Hayekian/Misesian ideas. Contrasting to the first three Transformers movies, Age of Extrinction refuses to glamorize military. Instead of Marines fighting evil aliens in Middle-East, we have CIA black ops oppressing an innovative Texan inventor. From Cade Yeager (played by Mark Wahlberg) emphasizing to the black cloaked agents to get off his property, to ignorant bureaucrat Harold Attinger (played by Kelsey Grammer) destabilizing planet with his foreign policy, Michael Bay’s U-Turn on politics cannot be more evident.

Govt propping up bad guys in an alien war, or private firms profiting from war, or having an elected US President become subservient to career bureaucrats – this movie cuts close to reality in numerous subtle and different ways. How a private weapons manufacturer, Joshua Joyce (played by Stanley Tucci), changes his mind when confronted with reality. But, a bureaucrat constantly refusing to confront his own folly is worth noting. In this case Hollywood illustrating how private sector can get corrupted by govt incentives — quite uncommon! Not to mention, Kelsey Grammer comforting the US President by claiming the all-powerful alien bounty hunter as his “asset”, a genuine black comedy moment!

Essentially the whole movie is about an individualistic inventor trying to stabilize the world, while govt busy-bodies propping up chaos. Sounds like it appeals to all our civilized human instincts. Café intellectuals might disagree, but Hollywood is among the best Western institutions. They’re more effective than any military in spreading liberal ideas across the globe. Niall Fergurson’s ‘The West and the Rest’ quite aptly sums up this sentiment through a quote from the French philosopher Régis Debray — “more power in blue jeans and rock and roll than the entire Red Army”.

Bjoern Kommerell [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Philosophy

History and Turning Points

November 28, 2018 Mahesh Sreekandath

“The history of mankind is the history of ideas. For it is ideas, theories and doctrines that guide human action, determine the ultimate ends men aim at, and the choice of the means employed for the attainment of these ends. The sensational events which stir the emotions and catch the interest of superficial observers are merely the consummation of ideological changes. There are no such things as abrupt sweeping transformations of human affairs. What is called, in rather misleading terms, a “turning point in history” is the coming on the scene of forces which were already for a long time at work behind the scene. New ideologies, which had already long since superseded the old ones, throw off their last veil and even the dullest people become aware of the changes which they did not notice before.” – Ludwig von Mises