A new hobgoblin—real or imagined—is to convince the public to give the state more money and power.  The use of “secondhand dealers in ideas” is necessary to get the masses on board with the new problem to be “solved.”  They are not thinkers.  Those are the ones who parrot propaganda: writers, journalists, and those who fancy themselves as political scientists and analysts.  They are merely members of the propaganda army.

They are junior partners in the state or the quasi-state apparatus.  They are critical to getting the public worried about the new hobgoblin.  The state can then swell in power.  While some are less important junior partners, but they are still critical.  They can just be replaced more easily.  New hobgoblins might not be so blatant, but the supporters have professed to worshipping the state without saying so explicitly.

Always be leery of the state and business getting into bed.  The state might disguise this in the form of regulation or breaking up a monopoly.  This will be sold as good for the public, but the opposite is true.  What really happens is the business writes regulations for itself to keep competitors out.  A monopoly is a grant of government privilege.  Far from breaking one up, this makes the monopoly stronger.

The goal is to eliminate capitalism.  They seek to make it a dirty word.  Capitalism is people engaging in voluntary contractual exchange.  They really believe the state is God, and all state action is virtuous.  They take action with the guidance of statistics.  “Statistics are the very eyes of the statesman.”  Statistics are how they attempt to play God.  People will have to engage in contractual exchange and the state hates that.

A few sirens should go off in your head anytime the state pushes a new hobgoblin and says they can solve it with more money and power.  This new and scarier hobgoblin will continue to be pushed by the propaganda army.  They count on you to repeat it.  The madness is hidden by proclaiming it’ll be good for you.  It’s then further disguised in statistics so it’s more difficult to see the truth.  The state is now the leviathan.

Reference

Murray Rothbard; War Collectivism