Professor Block's book is in a new edition from the Mises Institute, completely reset and beautifully laid out in an edition worthy of its contents.
It is among the most famous of the great defenses of victimless crimes and controversial economic practices, from profiteering and gouging to bribery and blackmail. However, beneath the surface, this book is also an outstanding work of microeconomic theory that explains the workings of economic forces in everyday events and affairs.
Murray Rothbard explains why:
"Defending the Undefendable performs the service of highlighting, the fullest and starkest terms, the essential nature of the productive services performed by all people in the free market. By taking the most extreme examples and showing how the Smithian principles work even in these cases, the book does far more to demonstrate the workability and morality of the free market than a dozen sober tomes on more respectable industries and activities. By testing and proving the extreme cases, he all the more illustrates and vindicates the theory."
F.A. Hayek agreed, writing the author as follows: "Looking through Defending the Undefendable made me feel that I was once more exposed to the shock therapy by which, more than fifty years ago, the late Ludwig von Mises converted me to a consistent free market position. … Some may find it too strong a medicine, but it will still do them good even if they hate it. A real understanding of economics demands that one disabuses oneself of many dear prejudices and illusions. Popular fallacies in economic frequently express themselves in unfounded prejudices against other occupations, and showing the falsity of these stereotypes you are doing a real services, although you will not make yourself more popular with the majority."
The contents of this book include:
Foreword by Murray N. Rothbard
Commentary by F.A. Hayek
Introduction
Sexual
The Prostitute
The Pimp
The Male Chauvinist Pig
Medical
The Drug Pusher
The Drug Addict
Free Speech
The Blackmailer
The Slanderer or Libeler
The Denier of Academic Freedom
The Advertiser
The Person Who Yells "Fire!" in a Crowded Theatre
Outlaw
The Gypsy Cab Driver
The Ticket Scalper
The Dishonest Cop
Financial
The (Non-Government) Counterfeiter
The Miser
The Inheritor
The Moneylender
The Non-Contributor to Charity
Business and Trade
The Curmudgeon
The Slumlord
The Ghetto Merchant
The Speculator
The Importer
The Middleman
The Profiteer
Ecology
The Stripminer
The Litterer
The Wastemakers
Labor
The Fat Capitalist-Pig Employer
The Scab
The Rate Buster
The Employer of Child Labor
232 pp. (pb)
SUPPORTERS
"Looking through 'Defending the Undefendable' made me feel that I was once more exposed to the shock therapy by which, more than 50 years ago, the late Ludwig von Mises converted me to a consistent free market position. Even now I am occasionally at first incredulous and feel that "this is going too far," but usually find in the end that Block is right. Some may find it too strong a medicine, but it wills till do them good even if they hate it. A real understanding of economics demands that one disabuses oneself of many dear prejudices and illusions. Popular fallacies in economics frequently express themselves in unfounded prejudices against other occupations, and in showing the falsitty of these stereotypes Block is doing a real servic, although he will not make himself more popular with the majority."
--FA Hayek
"Judging from the outraged responses in many libertarian quarters, many of 'our people' are not ready for this exciting and shocking adventure. Since libertarians are, or are supposed to be on the forefront of thought, since their whole lives have been an intellectual adventure in many ways, the hostility becomes even more mysterious."
--Murray N. Rothbard
"There are things that I strongly agree with and things that I strongly disagree with, but the book thoughout is amusingly and sharply reasoned, couragous and always provocative."
--Henry Hazlitt
"Many years ago Hazlitt's little masterpiece, Economics in One Lesson, demonstrated how, in order to measure the consequences of economic activies, one must look beyond their immediately obvious effects to thir secondary effects. Here Professor Block sets out highly specific, and sometimes shocking examples of Hazlitt's thesis. By concentrating on the positive economic contributions of extreme cases, he forces the reader's consid
- 本书运用奥地利学派经济学原理，为性交易、童工、毒品、贿赂等被社会视为‘不可辩护’的行为进行逻辑辩护。作者论证这些行为在自由市场中具有促进社会福利、满足特定需求或反映真实成本的经济功能，挑战传统道德对经济活动的简单否定。
- 深入剖析政府干预与市场机制的冲突，指出政客与商人一样追逐私利，政府管制往往导致资源错配和效率低下。书中批判农业补贴、价格管制等政策，强调私有财产权的神圣性，反对以公共利益为名的强制征收或限制。
- 揭示‘好心办坏事’的社会现象，论证禁止某些行为不仅无法消除问题，反而可能加剧黑市交易、推高价格或造成更严重的社会危害。作者通过极端案例展示市场机制如何在看似混乱的领域自发调节，强调个人选择自由的重要性。
- 对奥地利学派经济学、自由意志主义哲学感兴趣，希望了解市场机制在边缘领域运作逻辑的读者。适合愿意挑战传统道德直觉，从经济学角度重新审视社会争议话题，如毒品合法化、性产业等问题的思考者。
- 关注公共政策、政府边界及私有财产权议题的研究者与爱好者。本书适合希望深入理解政府干预失败案例、批判性分析管制政策后果，并探索无政府资本主义或最小政府理论基础的读者。
- 寻求思维训练与逻辑辩论素材的读者。本书不提供温和的折中方案，而是通过极端推演展示逻辑一致性，适合希望提升批判性思维能力，学习如何从非主流视角解构社会规范，并准备应对激烈伦理争议的读者。
- 本书观点极具争议且常违背主流伦理直觉，阅读时需保持理性距离，区分‘经济逻辑推演’与‘个人道德认同’。作者旨在展示市场机制的普遍性，而非鼓励读者模仿书中描述的行为，请勿将理论辩护误读为行为倡导。
- 部分案例推演可能显得偏激或脱离现实情境，读者应结合具体社会背景批判性思考。书中对政府行为的批判较为绝对，建议对照其他政治经济学著作，全面评估市场失灵与政府失灵的双重复杂性，避免陷入单一思维陷阱。
- 阅读过程中可能会感到不适或愤怒，这是正常反应。建议关注作者论证过程中的逻辑链条而非结论本身，学习其如何运用供需、成本收益分析解构社会偏见。同时注意书中部分观点可能缺乏实证支持，需警惕过度理想化的市场假设。
- 读者普遍认可本书逻辑严密、视角独特，能颠覆固有思维，提供对争议话题的深刻经济学解读。许多读者表示阅读后对政府干预、道德评判及市场机制有了全新认识，认为其具有极高的思想启发性和辩论价值，尽管部分观点令人震惊。
- 大量读者批评书中部分推演过于极端、脱离现实，认为其忽视人性复杂性与社会伦理底线。有观点指出作者为论证自由市场无所不能，不惜扭曲逻辑或忽略负面外部性，这种‘为了辩而辩’的态度削弱了部分论点的可信度与说服力。
- 共识认为本书适合作为思维训练工具，但不适合作为行动指南。读者建议将其与主流经济学、伦理学著作对照阅读，以平衡视角。尽管存在争议，本书仍被视为自由意志主义经典，其挑战权威、捍卫个人自由的勇气受到部分读者的高度赞赏。
本导读基于书籍简介、目录、原文摘录、短评和书评生成，不等同于全文精读。
- "In conclusion, it should be stated that heroin addiction may be an unmitigated evil, without any socially redeeming features.If so, efforts to publicize the evils of addiction can only be applauded. However, the present prohibition of heroin and other hard drugs serves no useful purpose. It has caus"
- "It does not constitute a valid criticism or justify prohibition because it is up to the individual to determine the kind of life he will lead—a short one, including what he considers to be pleasurable activities, or a longer one, without such enjoyment.Since there is no objective criterion for such "
- "But what is a person’s “reputation”? What is this thing which may not be “taken lightly”? Clearly, it is not a possession which may be said to belong to him in the way, for example, his clothes do. In fact, a person’s reputation does not “belong” to him at all. A person’s reputation is what other pe"
- "How strong is the case? First, it seems clear that advertising does not lure or force people to buy what they would not otherwise buy. Advertising attempts to persuade people—perhaps in ways some members of the community find objectionable. But it does not and cannot coerce. (Fraudulent advertising "
- "对钉子户的攻击才是变相动摇“私有财产权利神圣不可侵犯”的根本理念。私有财产的本质是其所有者有权按照自己的意愿随意处置自己的财产，只要这种使用不侵犯其他人以及他们的财产使用权。"
- "所有，“反性别歧视‘就等同于攻击大家鉴别优劣的行为，是在找借口限制和侵犯大家的自由。"
- "人们往往轻易地相信，如果将坏的事物禁止掉，随之而来的肯定是好结果。这条法则看上去很简单，但并非总是如此。"
- "真正的罪魁祸首并不是那些顽强地容忍着一切和使当前物价水平保持在合理状态的贫民区商贩，相反，罪魁祸首是那些嘲笑、侮辱、诅咒贫民区商贩的人，那些说贫民区商贩高价销售伪劣商品的人。正是这些“满口怨言的人”让贫民区的物价居高不下。这些满口怨言的人通常是当地的政界人士和社区“领袖”。他们借此讨好穷人来寻求权力和政治资本，却使贫民区内外的平均利润率差异扩大，让[贫民区商贩获利更多。如果他们停止这种鲁莽的谴责，这种贫民区商贩面对的非金融领域的麻烦就将与平均利润率差异一起趋向消亡，贫民区物价也会随之回落。"
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Anatomy of the State
Liberty and Property