Eugen Richter on This Day in History

 

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This Day in History: German politician and journalist Eugen Richter died on this day in 1906. Richter was a fervent anti-Socialist, and his 1891 novel "Pictures of the Socialistic Future" was the 19th century equivalent of George Orwell's 1984. In "Pictures of the Socialistic Future" he predicts what would happen if socialism was put into practice. He showed that government ownership of the means of production and central planning of the economy would lead to shortages, and he drew attention to the problem of incentives in the absence of profits. He also anticipated the Berlin Wall where he showed that it would be necessary to kill people to prevent them from leaving. His work has been described as "prophetic" of what socialism would mean.

"What inspired Richter to make these grim—yet uncannily accurate—predictions about the 'socialistic future'? The most plausible hypothesis is that Richter personally knew the leading socialists from the German Reichstag, and saw them for what they were. I submit that he repeatedly peppered the socialists with unpleasant hypotheticals, from 'Under socialism, who will take out the garbage?' to 'What will you do if skilled workers flee the country?' When socialist politicians responded with hysteria and evasion, Richter drew the natural inference: 'If this is how these ‘idealists’ deal with critical questions before they have power, just imagine how they’ll deal with critical actions after they have power!'" Bryan Kaplan 

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