Written 57 years ago but still applicable today

books:


	• The Road to Serfdom F. A. Hayek University Of Chicago Press, 1994 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 183 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Anti-Socialist

This is a great book, very pro capitalist written in 1944. but applies alot today. It is a good book to read after reading marx.

Great Book, Should be Required Reading!!!

Written in the midst of World War II, this book provides a series of arguments showing why Russia and Germany ended up in facism, the common process they went through to get there, and how socialism played a part in both situations. Essentially, the author argues socialism always leads to communism, which always leads to facism, and leadership of people we would consider the worst elements of society. Very interesting, and persuasive, arguments.

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Required Reading

The problem with Hayek's work is, it's difficult to make it "required reading" because that would be imposing one's own values on others, which would be bad. But whatever.

The Road to Serfdom is not an anti-socialist book. Nor is it pro-capitalist. Hayek merely makes the point, using Nazi Germany as an example, that _any_ attempt to force individuals to work for ?the common good? will _necessarily_ result in a totalitarian dictatorship in which the people are slaves for the good of the supreme ruler. That is the true message of the book and one to which everyone should pay close attention.

It is not Hayek?s intention in the Road to Serfdom to denigrate communists or even to point out the evils of easily misled, nationalistic Deutschlanders. Rather, he says, regardless of how many smart, well-meaning people start a communist movement, _Once you take power away from the people and give it to the State you will inevitably end up with a Stalin_.

We all want to live in ?a better world?. However, if we give the State the power to _force_ us to work to build that better world, that institution will always be taken over by whoever is willing to use the most force. There is no such thing as a ?benevolent dictator?, because such a ruler is easily overthrown by anyone who is willing to blow up, say, ten thousand people in order to gain control. Hayek did not write The Road to Serfdom in support of free market, rule of law, liberal democracy. Rather this was the only sociopolitical system he could see that provided some measure of insurance against the horrors of a totalitarian regime.

Hayek is unfortunately often labeled a conservative, despite the fact that he wrote an essay titled ?Why I Am Not a Conservative?. Go figure. Likewise the label ?liberal?, while shanghaied by the political left in the United States, is perhaps more recognizable to those from Europe and other areas of the world. Hayek was indeed an Austrian economist, as in, a ?member? of the Austrian School of economics. (He became a British citizen in protest against the Nazis.) The Austrian School is perhaps best defined by the realization that economic ?laws? are not laws the same way as, say, the laws of thermodynamics, and that they can?t be studied in a laboratory.

Nobel Memorial Prize-winner Hayek is perhaps best known in economics circles for his theory of business cycles as caused by credit expansion and misallocation of capital, but he remains very influential in a number of areas of economic and political study. In fact he notes in a forward to this edition of The Road to Serfdom that he found it difficult to write a book for ?popular? consumption, as there is no room to provide real logical reasoning or ?evidence?, but that the information is there, if people care to read his ?hard? economics writing.

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Written 57 years ago but still applicable today

If you have total freedom--no plan for society whatsoever--you get chaos/anarchy. Plan the economy in too much detail, you destroy freedom in the process. It has to be done just right. F.A. Hayek had a very good idea of what the right level of economic planning was. In this book he describes the level of economic planning that is compatible with freedom. Today (the dead author tells us) just like back then, freedom can be taken away with small legal steps. You have to stay alert and watch those with power, like a hawk.

A True Classic

The Road to Serfdom explains the rise of totalitarianism in early twentieth century Europe. Yet it also made a more general argument concerning the limits of democracy and human reason. In particular, Hayek argues that the pursuit of socialist ideals leads to totalitarianism. While these ideals seem noble to many, those who persist in realizing these ideals will find it necessary to adopt coercive methods that are incompatible with freedom. Thus socialists must choose between their egalitarian goals and the preservation of individual liberty.

Hayek describes how Europeans came to expect progress, and became impatient for faster progress. The liberal reforms of the 19th century delivered unprecedented economic progress. Much of this was directly due to scientific discovery. The role of free competition in promoting scientific discovery was less obvious. Europeans increasingly came to believe that scientific planning of society itself could accelerate greater progress.

Europeans also changed how they thought about equality and freedom. Insistence upon freedom from want displaced the yearning for freedom from coercion. Democracy came to be seen as a means of realizing an increasing number of social goals, rather than as a means of preserving freedom. To Hayek, these were dangerous errors. Democracy could only work effectively in areas where agreement upon ultimate ends could be attained with little difficulty. A democratic government could enforce general rules of conduct that applied to all equally (i.e. free speech and free association). Democracy can never produce agreement over policies that affect specific economic results. One always gains at the expense of others in such matters. Such Economic planning places impossible demands upon democracy. This is because pursuit of specific ends requires timely and decisive action. Democracies move too slowly to attain specific ends, so arbitrary powers of government will grow. A planned economy will ultimately require acceptance of dictatorship. This is a dire consequence, as it is the worst sort of tyrants who are most adept at wielding dictatorial powers.

Some might say that these arguments are unduly pessimistic. Hayek points to the examples of Hitler and Stalin to support his case. Of course, these are worst case scenarios. Have not England, Sweden, and the US adopted large welfare-regulatory states without such tyranny? This is a fair point, yet we should remember two things. First, Hayek claimed that centralized control of the economy would destroy freedom ultimately, but gradually. Second, Western nations have not yet gone as far in planning their economies as did Russia and Germany in the 1930's. The fact that we have yet realized the horrible results of Stalinism implies neither that were are safe from despotism in the future, nor that our present situation is entirely satisfactory. One can easily argue that we have already started on the wrong path. For instance, Hayek's chapter on `The End of Truth' applies to modern political correctness.

Hayek wrote this book not only to warn people about the limits of democracy and the incompatibility of planning and freedom. This was the start of his project concerning the abuse of reason. His warning is also about the tendency to overestimate the abilities of even the best and brightest individuals. Not even the best and brightest can comprehend modern societies. Socialists who favor comprehensive planning, and even modern liberals and conservatives who want to plan part of society, proceed on a false assumption concerning human reason. Ultimately, Hayek makes a strong case for limited constitutional government. To expect more of democracy than what Madison and Jefferson intended is to risk disaster.

The Road to Serfdom is a profound defense of individual liberty. This book has its critics, mainly on the left. Yet this is due to its insightful nature. The Road to Serfdom has produced hysterical responses from the left simply because it strikes at the core of both democratic-socialist and Marxist beliefs. The Road to Serfdom stands out as a true classic, as timeless as it is insightful.

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