The Unseen Hand - Ralph Epperson




Glossary

The Accidental Theory of History: Historical events occur by accident, for no apparent reason. Govermental rulers are powerless to prevent the event from happening.

Capital Good: Goods utilized for producing or acquiring consumption goods.

The Conspiratorial View of History: Historical events occur by design, for reasons that are not made known to the people.

Cartel: A few sellers in a market place set the price of a good or service sold.

Conspiracy: A combination of people, working in secret, for an evil or unlawful purpose.

Consumption Good: Goods acquired for consumption purposes.

Capitalism: Any economic system that utilizes capital goods in acquiring or producing consumption goods.

Creationism: The theory that all basic animal and plant types were brought into existence by acts of God using special processes which are not operative today.

Demagogue: A speaker who seeks to make capital of social discontent and gain political influence.

Economic Systems:

Free Enterprise System: Where the capital goods are owned and controlled by the individual.

Fascism: Where the capital goods are owned by the individual and controlled by the state.

Socialism: Where the capital goods are owned and controlled by the state.

Communism: Where the capital goods are owned and controlled by coercive monopolies.

Fiat Money: Paper money of government issue which is legal tender by fiat or law, does not represent nor is it based upon gold and contains no promise of redemption.

Governmental Types:

  • Anarchy: Rule by no one
  • Democracy: Rule by the majority
  • Dictatorship: Rule by one man
  • Oligarchy: Rule by a few, or the minority
  • Republic: Rule by law
  • Theocracy: Rule by God

Humanism: The religious belief that man shapes his own destiny. It is a constructive philosophy, a non-theistic religion, a way of life.

Inflation: A relatively sharp and sudden increase in the quantity of money, or credit, or both, relative to the amount of exchange business. Inflation always produces a rise in the price level.

Liberty: Rights with responsibilities.

License: No rights with no responsibilities.

Money: Anything that people will accept in exchange for goods or services in a belief that they may in turn exchange it for other goods and services.

Monopoly: One seller of a particular good, or a provider of a particular service, in a given market place.

Natural Monopoly: Created freely by the personal preferences of the people in the marketplace.

Coercive Monopoly: Created by the government, where force is used to restrict the access of others to the marketplace.

Monopsony: One seller in a marketplace.

Organic Evolution: The theory that all living things have arisen by a materialistic evolutionary process from a single source which itself arose from a dead, inanimate world.

Privilege: A freedom to act morally but only after permission has been granted by some governmental entity.

Repudiation: The refusal of a national or state government to pay real or alleged pecuniary obligations.

Right: A freedom to act morally without asking permission.

Symbiosis: The intimate living together of two dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Treason: "Treason against the United States shall consist in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort" (Article 3, Section 3, U.S. Constitution).