The Religious Fervor of Socialism
On the Mises forum, Majevska wrote,
The majority of people start to hate libertarians when they are humiliated by them. You may be 100% correct in your logic, and if so you will probably make the other person feel defeated and humiliated and all you accomplish is making yourself into an object of hatred and discomfort.
This reminded me of something I read in “Mises and Austrian Economics: A Personal View” by Ron Paul.
“No one should expect that any logical argument or any experience could shake the almost religious fervor of those who believe in salvation through spending and credit expansion”
That’s from Ludwig Von Mises, “Stones into Bread : The Keynesian Miracle” Planning for Freedom 1974 p. 63
I’d like to add, the humiliation is not always a result of the approach. I think many people feel shame when they realize they have never critically thought about what they believe, let alone that they may be totally wrong. They cannot defend their position, which makes it seem like more of a beating.
Someone also wrote in the discussion that no one likes finding out Santa doesn’t exist.
Worse than that, no one with any modesty likes finding out that they were believing a lie. It is very embarrassing.
