Ludwig von Mises and Justin Bieber
Before we all pile on Justin Bieber, let’s take heart in the knowledge that he used past tense when referring to Anne Frank. The pop star recently toured the Anne Frank museum and left the following message, “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.”
All things considered, I’d say this is an improvement over his recent bout with historical details with David Letterman.
“Don’t go nuts,’ Letterman chastised him about his tattoos. ‘Because more and more you’ll seem like a mural … like the Sistine Chapel, it’s too much.” To which Bieber replied, “I’m not going for the Sixteenth Chapel.”
Okay, time to stop piling on! What does this have to do with the Austrian School economist, sociologist, and classical liberal, Ludwig von Mises?
Well, first off, I bet you didn’t know that the pop icon has an article touting his talents on Mises.org from 2011 by Jeffrey Tucker:
It turns out that this kid is incredibly talented, wholly deserving of his fame and fortune. And the story of his meteoric rise to the top — from first song release to megastar bestriding the globe as a colossus in little more than one year — is really a story of how digital media has, as never before, put the star-making power squarely and directly in the hands of listeners.
To say that he had humble beginnings is a real understatement. He was raised in rural Stratford, Ontario, by a very young single mom (Patricia Lynn Mallette; the Bieber name comes from the father, who remarried) who worked in low-paying jobs to provide for him. Mom was all about supporting him but the energy and relentless forward push of his career clearly comes from within Justin himself. This kid is a powerhouse of energy and ambition; he never stops performing and improving.
His talent was very obvious from a very young age. Home videos show him pounding out with his hands complex rhythms on chairs. He taught himself drums, piano, guitar, trumpet — and he manages genuine competence on each of these instruments (and he did all of this while playing sports)… (Mises.org totally beliebs in you!)
More to the point…Justin Bieber, clearly you’ve been busy producing music and pursuing your dreams. Let me kindly suggest that the Liberty Movement has some education tools to offer–even while you’re on the road! There’s an extensive amount of audio books and articles available in the media section of Mises.org that could really help fill in some missing historical details and economic knowledge. Ron Paul even has a whole homeschooling curriculum available.
Hey, any of us could benefit from these resources! Who knows, you might start singing about Kaynes vs. Hayek? Come on, Justin, make a belieber out of us!