“Either communistic production is superior to free production, or it is not.If it is, then it must be for all things, not just for security.If not, progress requires that it be replaced by free production.Complete communism or complete liberty: that is the alternative!”

—  Gustave de Molinari

Source: The Production of Security (1849), p. 40

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Either communistic production is superior to free production, or it is not.If it is, then it must be for all things, no…" by Gustave de Molinari?
Gustave de Molinari photo
Gustave de Molinari 28
Belgian political economist and classical liberal theorist 1819–1912

Related quotes

Peter Kropotkin photo

“It is only by the abolition of the State, by the conquest of perfect liberty by the individual, by free agreement, association, and absolute free federation that we can reach Communism — the possession in common of our social inheritance, and the production in common of all riches.”

Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921) Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, scientist, revolutionary, economist, activist, geogr…

Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal (1896)

John McAfee photo

“Software production is unlike any other production that preceded it. No raw materials are required, no time is required, and no effort is required. You can make a million copies of a piece of software instantaneously for free. It's a totally new paradigm of production.”

John McAfee (1945) American computer programmer and businessman

"Nerds 2.0.1 - A Brief History of the Internet", Part 3

Kevin Kelly photo

“Following the free also works in the other direction. If one way to increase product value is to make products free, then many things now free may contain potential value not yet perceived.”

Kevin Kelly (1952) American author and editor

Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World (1995), New Rules for the New Economy: 10 Radical Strategies for a Connected World (1999)

Tom Cruise photo

“Sex is about the connection. Great sex is a by-product, for me, of a great relationship, where you have communication and it's an extension of that. Where it's just free. And that's how it should be. It's spectacular.”

Tom Cruise (1962) American actor and film producer

Quoted in Nicole Lampert, "Cruise: Katie can use painkillers during birth" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=383118&in_page_id=1773, The Daily Mail (2006-04-15).

“Both individuals and communities must be able to possess the skills and knowledge required to function productively in the changing world.”

Sukavich Rangsitpol (1935) Thai politician

Education helps reduce social problems and improves quality of life

Jeremy Rifkin photo

“Getting to near zero marginal cost and nearly free goods and services is a function of advances in productivity. Productivity is “a measure of productive efficiency calculated as the ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it.” If the cost of producing an additional good or service is nearly zero, that would be the optimum level of productivity.”

Jeremy Rifkin (1945) American economist

The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism (2014)

Vladimir Lenin photo

“Capitalism in its imperialist stage arrives at the threshold of the most complete socialization of production. In spite of themselves the capitalists are dragged, as it were, into the new social order, which marks the transition from complete free competition to complete socialization. Production becomes social, but appropriation remains private. The social means of production remain the private property of a few. The framework of formally recognized free competition remains, but the yoke of a few monopolists on the rest of the population becomes a hundred times heavier, more burdensome and intolerable.”

Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian politician, led the October Revolution

Source: Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism (1917), Chapter One
Source: Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism: Full Text of 1916 Edition

Richard Stallman photo

“We have already greatly reduced the amount of work that the whole society must do for its actual productivity, but only a little of this has translated itself into leisure for workers because much nonproductive activity is required to accompany productive activity. The main causes of this are bureaucracy and isometric struggles against competition. Free software will greatly reduce these drains in the area of software production. We must do this, in order for technical gains in productivity to translate into less work for us.”

Richard Stallman (1953) American software freedom activist, short story writer and computer programmer, founder of the GNU project

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

Louis Brandeis photo

“The general rule of law is, that the noblest of human productions -- knowledge, truths ascertained, conceptions, and ideas -- become, after voluntary communication to others, free as the air to common use.”

Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) American Supreme Court Justice

Dissent, International News Service v. Associated Press (1918).
Judicial opinions

Gustave de Molinari photo

“What special reason is there that the production of security cannot be relegated to free competition?”

Gustave de Molinari (1819–1912) Belgian political economist and classical liberal theorist

Source: The Production of Security (1849), p. 24
Context: But why should there be an exception relative to security? What special reason is there that the production of security cannot be relegated to free competition? Why should it be subjected to a different principle and organized according to a different system?

Related topics