They want us to believe that their opponents are axe murderers who want old ladies thrown into the streets and children to starve to death. Politicians try to convince us that all of our failures are due to the fact that the wrong people are in office. If this is not false advertisement on a criminal scale, then nothing can fit that bill. Galbraith and his allies have constantly told us that private advertising creates demand for products that we really don't want or need and that if the state ran our lives, politicians and bureaucrats would provide those things that are truly necessary for the Good Society. Yet, each election cycle demonstrates beyond question that the opposite is true.
Politicians are the real practitioners of false advertising.
Thus, if the political classes insist on ruling the airwaves, outdoor advertising, and newspaper and magazine pages, then perhaps they need to investigate themselves. Better yet, they should admit their own massive failings and just leave the rest of us alone. William L. Anderson, Ph.D., is assistant professor of economics at North Greenville College in Tigerville, South Carolina. He is an adjunct scholar of the Ludwig von Mises Institute .