2 years ago: Ludwig von Mises smacks down latest religious-right talking point

December 8, 2011, here on slacktivist: Ludwig von Mises smacks down latest religious-right talking point

They’re both full of it. Colson hears a call for justice and calls it envy. Von Mises hears a call for justice and calls it “resentment.” Both are ridiculously confused.

This is not a minor point. This is, at a fundamental level, the confusion of virtue and vice. People who condemn justice are not to be trusted.

But von Mises’ nonsense is at least based on a more plausible reading of the Gospels. And it’s worth citing here, if only as an antidote to the current in-vogue talking point (Colson, Dave Ramsey, Tony Perkins) aiming to dismiss all criticism of the 1-percent kleptocracy as mere “envy.”

That’s not a talking point being promoted by smart people, honest people or good people. But it’s definitely making the rounds among those lacking one or more of those characteristics.