|Peter Boettke|
Well the analogy doesn't quite work, but mythologies and social change are often critical factors. In Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, the producers in society go on strike and refuse to the let the moochers and the looters live off their creativity and wealth creation. The fictional character John Galt leads the rebellion, and eventually as the producers continually go on strike the parasitic system collapses.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, I listened with great interest the NPR segment yesterday on the Luddites, featuring the brilliant economic historian Joel Mokyr. As Mokyr explained, General Ned Ludd actually didn't exist as a real person, but was a mythology and that the various workers took on the persona of Ned Ludd in angry letters to factory owners or in crowds -- shouting out "I am Ned Ludd" before breaking into factories and destroying the new machines that were substituting for labor.
I think this could be a fascinating research topic in political economy --- the social construction of mythologies in moments of critical social change. Can you think of some related to the communist revolution?; the anti-commuinist movement; the union movement; the anti-union movement; the Civil Rights movement; the women's movement;, etc.
The Hajduks of Eastern Europe come to mind, interestingly, both on the pro and anti communist sides.
Posted by: Michael Valcic | May 19, 2015 at 11:25 AM
In the UK, Sid of the 'tell Sid' campaign adverts during Thatcher's privatisations.
Posted by: Matt Moore | May 19, 2015 at 01:41 PM
Pete, see the paper that Gary and I wrote about Ludd, Cartel. Only broke cheaters' loomss.
Posted by: bob tollison | June 24, 2015 at 10:10 AM