“False consciousness” is a term favored by the left as a label for people’s systematic failure to understand adequately and respond to social reality. Contrary to the left, the theory of false consciousness explains very little about individuals’ everyday decision-making, but it does shed light on the opinions of voters at the ballot box and academics as social critics.

Donald J. Boudreaux is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, Associate Editor of The Independent Review, and Professor of Economics at George Mason University.
Eric Crampton is Chief Economist at the New Zealand Institute
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Other Independent Review articles by Donald J. Boudreaux
Fall 2021 Trade Wars Are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace
Spring 2020 Today’s Relevance of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations
Fall 2015 Thomas Piketty’s Flawed Analyses of Public Debt and Executive Compensation
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