The Incredible Bread Machine: A Study of Capitalism, Freedom, & the State

By R.W. Grant

Book Overview

By: R. W. Grant ISBN-10: 0930073320 ISBN-13: 9780930073329 Publisher: Fox & Wilkes - 1999-06 Hardcover | 2nd Rev Edition | List Price: $24.95 (USD) | Sales Rank: 2309111 Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0930073320
• ISBN13: 9780930073329
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Laissez Faire Books
• Length: 299 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

"Bread Machine" an Excellent Point of Departure

A simply written summary of Libertarian economics. Therefore, a must read for the economics student. But that doesn't mean it's right. The books' most fundamental statement reads, "If we agree that man has a right to live, we must agree that man may use the mental and physical faculties to procure those means. Since the means (food, clothing, shelter, and the like) do not usually lie readily at hand, he must find or grow the food, manufacture the clothing and build the shelter. In short, he must produce." (at 140) Amen. However, the book's premise is that government lacks the capacity to do anything to improve on the wealth creation and distribution process and can only get in the way. It thus seems to me blind to the most fundamental fact of all, that it is government that provides us with the protection from enemies to make it possible for us to fashion and enforce the laws which we believe will be the most conducive to the satisfaction of these needs. And it is only when entrepreneurs feel certain that such protections are in place that they are willing to undertake long-term projects. Each generation is blessed with the advances of all previous generations, and so, the individual in reality owns nothing that has not been provided him by long-standing governments protecting the rights of generations to work on the effort.

Freedom Works!

Why is it, in the whole history of mankind, he has lived a life of bare sustenance and then, almost over night, a few peoples suddenly found themsleves amidst vast riches never before dreamed of? The answer: Freedom! This book demonstrates, more clearly than most, the only path to material well-being is Free and Open Markets, Private Property rights, and the Rule of Law. After reading this book, I kept asking myself: How is it so many men of supposed learning (college professors, news reporters, and entertainers) still believe the true path to wealth and human happiness runs through government? The only two answers I can come up with are: ignorance and/or stupidity! Free men, acting by their own lights, have proved time and again they can produce the goods and services society demands. And, conversely, government continues to prove that it can only stand in the way of man's productive efforts! These facts have been made painfully clear each time some utopian, such as Stalin or Hitler tries to mold the perfect society, and in the process of molding that perfect society they have to slaughter millions of their countrymen! Yet professors still preach about the so-called "common good" and "economic justice" (whatever that means!) and the media pundits still "gobble it up" - the evidence notwithstanding. What are we to believe of the intelectual capabilities of these men? Well, I know what I believe - these are "easily winded champions!" Why would anyone risk their intelectual, financial, or physical capital if tehre were no chance of a return commensurate with the risk incurred? The simple answer is: THEY WOULDN'T! and therein lies the ultimate reason why the Free Market/Private Property nations, while amounting to only a small share of the earth's population and resources, nevertheless, produces the lion's share of the earth's wealth! Bottom line: a great, must read book, if you wish to gain an understanding of why some things are as they are and how they can be changed. I highly recommend the read!

A Classic, One of the Most Exciting Books on Capitalism

The original version of this book was privately published back in 1966 and the two-part poem in the back pages of that edition -- the most complete version and also my favorite version of Richard Grant's provocative poem -- was copyrighted January of 1964! Commercial publishers wouldn't touch Grant's controversial manuscript back then -- but (luckily for us all) Grant's friend Richard Bray got it into print and available as an inexpensive grey softcover, complete with etensive footnotes and index. It sold by the thousands almost entirely on word of mouth. I am very glad for the current generation of libertarians and conservatives and Objectivists that Fox & Wilkes has made it available once more, as updated by the original author himself, in this edition. While I am not sure this new, revised edition actually surpasses the original IBM classic, that may be partly nostalgia on my part. But it is near enough to the original, with more modern examples to illustrate the timeless principles discussed, that it remains one of the all-time classics on liberty, private property rights, and free-market capitalism.This book discusses some of the misconceptions about capitalism, such as the "robber barons" and the Great Depression and goes on to challenge prevailing assumptions about the need for government intervention in the private affairs and voluntary (market) relationships of peaceful people. It identifies the three basic principles of a free society, applying them to contemporary issues including education, the environment, Michael Milken, Bill Gates, altruism, the dangerous intellectual, "compassion" in government, and much more. The book includes excellent distillations of some of the best insights and ideas from such key figures and writers of the modern pro-freedom cause as F. A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Ayn Rand, Andrew J. Galambos, Murray N. Rothbard, and Henry Grady Weaver. It is a "must read" for anyone who wants a good, lucid introduction to the case for individual freedom in a social context and a policy of laissez faire imposed on government. Although it is hard to identify one single book that I could recommend to anyone (such as a high school or college student) as a "first book" on the freedom perspective, this would probably be that book.

A simple primer on freedom and capitalism and why it works

My copy of this book dates back to the '70's. It pops to mind often when the more Liberal of our politicians try to solve economic discomfort through law.The joke that was the 'deregulation' of utilities in California, and the laughable solutions to higher oil prices offered by Democrats today make this book must reading.The problem is that since this book was written our children have received less and less education in economics, Americans actually believe left wing politicians who say they can manipulate the laws of supply and demand to the peoples' advantage.Chuck out the heavy reading of Adam Smith and Von Mises, this simple and concise book should be required reading in all High Schools. It may be the clearest and most easily understandable case for free markets in print.

FREE BREAD MAKES DOUGH

This is one of the early expositions of Libertarian ideas and among the most readable. A best-seller when it came out, it is now out of print. The author explains how he came to understand Libertarianism built around the unifying theme of a machine that makes free bread the government tries to suppress.