Socialism & Capitalism - Hoppe

Oh boy I wish I read this book sooner. I would have become an anarcho-capitalist a long time ago had I started with this book. Hoppe completely obliterates the argument for socialism in any degree, from a limited nightwatchman state to democratic socialism to full-blown Soviet Union totalitarian socialism. And he does it in under 300 pages.

How great is this book? His first 6 chapters look at every degree of Socialism, and using step-by-step logical deduction shows it to be economically inferior to free market, voluntaryist capitalism. Included in this analysis is an attack on empiricism used by mainstream, non-Austrian, economic theory. He then takes Socialism down with a rock solid ethics/moral argument. But he doesn't end there.

Hoppe completes his masterpiece with a case against the fear of a monopoly producer in a free market, and for the private production of security. He even takes down the "public goods" argument for the state. This book truly has it all. From limited government constitutionalists to totalitarian socialists, all are shown to be economically and morally unjustified and an affront to both reason and liberty. The Mises Institutes offers this book in PDF and ePub, for free! There's no excuse not to read this book, other than you're already deeply committed to the anarcho-capitalist ideal of a voluntary free market in everything. If you aren't, read this, and you will be.