Sunday, January 08, 2006

Writing for AngloAustria

So, you'd like to post an article for AngloAustria and you are a Misesian with a European perspective? Excellent. You may like to read The Birth of AngloAustria before continuing. It's great that you would like to write for AngloAustria, but before spending any time creating your article, there are certain ground rules:

  • Rule Number One, as they say on Ocean's Twelve; you have a framed and signed photograph of Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe somewhere about your person, or you at least wish to acquire one.UPDATE: After prolonged, emotional, and frank discussions, with a certain 'Mr Anonymous', at the Libertarian Alliance, Rule Number One has been relaxed slightly, due to a partial cave-in on the hard-core Hoppeite front. Although it helps to be be a Hoppeian, Proto-Rothbardians, or Proto-Blockites, or even Proto-Murphyites, are also welcome to contribute to the glory of AngloAustria. Though obviously, you still want the signed photograph. Let it never be said that we on AngloAustria are inflexible.
  • Your personal Top 10 list of essential books for intellectual development looks remarkably like this one.
  • If you are religious, you hold that the God above all other Gods is Ludwig von Mises. If you are irreligious, you consider him to be one of, if not the, greatest intellectuals who ever lived, possibly in a two man grouping with Aristotle.
  • You are able to write. This is essential.
  • You are able to both laugh at others and laugh at yourself; there's only room for one prima donna at AngloAustria. Although the serious aim of this site is to be another brick in the wall of the demise of the state, we have to have a bit of fun being that brick, or all of our heads are going to explode.
  • You never use ten words where one might do, unless it would be funny to do so, or you really can't help it.
  • Although in principle AngloAustria does not believe in libel laws, unfortunately the men with guns do, so we don't go there. The odd amusing Jeremy Clarkson style gratuitious insult towards socialists-in-general, is however acceptable, particularly if it really hits a nerve with these sad mentally defective cretins.
  • Guest articles need to be as brief as possible. I may have already said this.
  • Guest articles need to have at least one really interesting point. Obviously, the site prima donna has no need to fulfil this condition.
  • I think that's about it.

Please send your articles to the editor.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only item in your list that almost applies to me is "You never use ten words where one might do." The only thing I have read by Hoppe is a bit of the paper on democracy that you linked the other day. I haven't read any of the books in your list. I am a fan of some neoclassical authors. I am not English. I am not able to write. On the positive side, I am for private roads. With these credentials I hesitate to send you an article. But at least I hope you will allow me to shamelessly promote my blog in the comments section.

Jack Maturin said...

Got to be a Hoppeian I'm afraid, or at least a very heavy supporter of the Mises.org world view. For instance, if you're more of a Rothbardian than a Hoppeian, and you understand why Professor Walter Block's criticism of Hoppe's ideas on time preference is a valid refutation, then I'm not going to quibble; but it's probably easier just to say you're a Hoppeian.

To decide whether you are all you have to do is read Democracy: The God that Failed, from cover to cover. You will either love it or hate it. If you love it, welcome on board to Club Hoppe. If you hate it, don't worry; you've got lots of people who agree with you.

I am for private roads

Excellent. You might want to read this then.

BTW, I've changed the first line of the writing article to:

So, you'd like to post an article for AngloAustria and you are a Misesian with a European perspective?

This site is not necessarily an English thing, but definitely a European thing. Austrianism is fairly heavily concentrated in the US and Canada, and most writers there do tend to have an understandable US-centric view of things. This site is an attempt to view things from a slightly different angle.

But at least I hope you will allow me to shamelessly promote my blog in the comments section.

Kein problem, as my friends say in Zurich. No problem at all! :-)

You should see your site appear on my blogroll, soon.

Incidentally, if you are interested in biology and politics, I think you will really like Professor Hayek's book, The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism. It is Hayek's last major work, written I believe when he was 89, and among other things is a precise and polished account of how human evolution and biology has massively influenced the rise of socialism. I think you would really enjoy thinking about the ideas that it promotes.