Pyramids: The State’s Priciest Folly
...That Leave Us Wondering, Why?
More stock news soon, first some thoughts on economics, pyramids, and the state.
As a history buff, I can’t help but marvel at the pyramids of Egypt. These staggering limestone monuments have stared down millennia, daring us to figure them out. The engineering alone is enough to make you tip your hat to the ancients.
But let’s be honest: as fascinating as they are, they’re also the state’s most extravagant stinker. Imagine all the resources and sheer human grit diverted from productive activities to stack up these behemoths—for what, exactly? Nobody knows for sure, and that’s the rub.
Tombs, cosmic compasses, or fringe-favorite power plants?
The fact that no one’s sure—despite all the hieroglyphs and archaeology—screams inefficiency. If a project that massive doesn’t leave a clear memo on its purpose, it’s not just a waste of resources, it’s a waste of intent. You’ve got something that ate up a society’s wealth and sweat, and it can’t even explain itself. Nor does anyone even remember its purpose.
The pyramids sitting there as a "symbol of waste" hits harder when you realize even now, thousands of years later, we’re still guessing what the hell they were really for.
It’s like the ancients built the world’s priciest cargo cult, only the planes never landed, and now we’re all just gawking at the runway. That’s not a monument to glory; it’s a question mark made of stone, mocking the whole idea of centralized planning.
Economist Ludwig von Mises wrote, “The worst thing that can happen to a socialist is to have his country ruled by socialists who are not his friends.” Swap “socialist” for “pharaoh,” and you’ve got the pyramids: a top-down boondoggle where the ruler’s whims trumped the people’s needs.
Mises also said, “The worship of the state is the worship of force,” and what’s a pyramid if not a stone sermon to coercion? Mises saw state worship as force—and here, every stone rests on wealth coerced, not earned.
Fascinating artifacts, sure, but they stand as a dusty warning: even the most awe-inspiring history can showcase resources squandered on dreams that don’t pay off.
H.L. Mencken might’ve smirked and called it a monument to “the booboisie in power.”
What a twist - enduring wonders that leave us wondering why.