The core argument of Hayek is that government central planning and economic control will be a quick road to tyranny, as well as result in the loss of individualism. This also closely reflects the ideas of hands off capitalism and laissez faire. In turn it denounced the popular fascist and communist countries taking over Europe/Eastern Europe during the 1940's, as they were founded on the idea of complete government control over human autonomy as well as the economy. He founded these principles primarily because of the importance of civil liberty in a country. He felt throughout the world every human deserved the liberty to make their decisions and live their life how they please. To have a economy that allowed for liberty, individuals must be able to work, spend, and sell anything they please, at the amount the please, when they please. To Hayek, you either had this autonomy or the country would become an evil dictatorship. Ironically this book was rejected in America despite being a country which is known for being incredibly anti-fascist and anti-communist in values. This is because Americans still felt however to have a successful economy that government must support them to a certain extend however to keep economic instability as highlighted from the Great Depression, from recurring.
https://mises.org/library/road-serfdom-0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-fascism
https://fee.org/articles/the-essence-of-the-road-to-serfdom-in-cartoons/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Serfdom
I really liked reading this post and it gave very interesting insights on von Hayek's The Road to Serfdom. Another interesting aspect of von Hayek's life are the effects of his opposing ideas with John Maynard Keynes. For example, in the 1945 Parliamentary Election in Great Britain, Clement Attlee and the Labor Party won. The previous Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, supported von Hayek because he was more conservative. The British people, though, preferred Keynes, who argued for more government intervention in the economy. Additionally, due to WWII, the British people were skeptical of any German person, including von Hayek.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how you pointed out the irony that Americans initially rejected Hayeks's despite opposing dictatorship. It makes sense though when taking into account the fact that Americans felt like they had to rely on the government to keep the economy and businesses going. Apparently, his book was originally only to be sold in Great Britain, but sold very well in the US too. He was able to establish himself as the world's leading classic liberal.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Hayek.html