Your Primary Civic Duty – A Call to Action

The following quotes are from the book; "Human Action" by Ludwig Von Mises.

“All present-day political issues concern problems commonly called economic. All arguments advanced in contemporary discussion of social and public affairs deal with fundamental matters of praxeology and economics. Everybody’s mind is preoccupied with economic doctrines”……. “Everybody thinks of economics whether he is aware of it or not. In joining a political party and in casting his ballot, the citizen implicitly takes a stand upon essential economic theories”……….
“There is no means by which anyone can evade his personal responsibility. Whoever neglects to examine to the best of his abilities all the problems involved voluntarily surrenders his birthright to a self-appointed elite of supermen. In such vital matters blind reliance upon “experts” and uncritical acceptance of popular catchwords and prejudices is tantamount to the abandonment of self-determination and to yielding to other people’s domination. As conditions are today, nothing can be more important to every intelligent man than economics. His own fate and that of his progeny is at stake”.
“Very few are capable of contributing any consequential idea to the body of economic thought. But all reasonable men are called upon to familiarize themselves with the teachings of economics. This is, in our age, the primary civic duty.”

Why is it our primary civic duty to familiarize ourselves with economic theory?

“The body of economic knowledge is an essential element in the structure of human civilization; it is the foundation upon which modern industrialism and all the moral, intellectual, technological, and therapeutical achievements of the last century have been built. It rests with men whether they will make the proper use of the rich treasure with which this knowledge provides them or whether they will leave it unused. But if they fail to take the best advantage of it and disregard its teachings and warnings, they will not annul economics; they will stamp out society and the human race.”

If you don’t know where to start I recommend reading
“Economics in One Lesson” by Henry Hazlitt (183 pages)
http://www.amazon.com/Economics-One-Lesson-Shortest-Understand/dp/0517548232

“Basic Economics” by Thomas Sowell (396 pages)
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Economics-3rd-Ed-Economy/dp/0465002609/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241803091&sr=1-1

For more in depth study read FA Hayek, Murray Rothbard, Ludwig Von Mises.