H. Dawary
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Today I will be doing a book review from one of the greatest minds of the last century... FA Hayek, a co-winner of the Nobel memorial prize in Economics in 1974. I have read this book of his many times, and each time I learn something new about freedom, justice, and the curse of Socialist/Communist dictatorships, and I am convinced that this book of his has sealed his name in history and will go down in history as one of the greatest piece of works along with, Adam smiths "Wealth of Nations", Machiavellis "Prince", and Platos "Republic".
"Have not all our hopes and efforts been directed toward greater freedom, justice, and prosperity? If the the outcome is so different from our aims --- If, instead of freedom and prosperity, bondage and misery stare us in the face --- is it not clear that sinister forces must have foiled our intentions?" Pg. 65, The Abandoned Road
FA Hayek, before WW1, like many of his contemporary intellectual youth started his life as a promising socialist. However, after WW1 he questioned his beliefs about socialism... In 1931 he wrote a book that allowed him to be invited to the London school of economics, and met another famous contemporary of his John Maynard Keynes, famously known for Keynesian economics.
At this time there were many philosophies that were circulating around from the previous century, chiefly Marxism. Previously in Europe certain ideologues were kept at bay due to the influence of the Church, but with Nietzsche's "God is Dead" and man being able to decide his own destiny, enabled many hopeful youths that they can bring about a better tomorrow, and that they could achieve an "Ideal Republic" sought from the old generation espoused by Plato, and thus came about the stream of thoughts that was not concerned with a "God" or christian morals, but more with how to achieve more justice and equality for the "collective". Marxism during the days of Hayek was on the rise especially in Eastern Europe, especially amongst the youth.
The road to serfdom can be taken as a manual for the "would be" dictator as to how to oppress a people or it can be taken by an informed person as to what is the potential threat that leads to such a tragedy in the first place. FA hayek's goal however is to show the contradiction behind planning of Societies in which hopeful Socialists. The socialists seek to plan everything in society from the bottom up, and everything is decided by government, the individual has no say whatsoever, but Socialism, as FA Hayek illustrates, that such a governance cannot be accomplished except through the use of force. The only way a planned society a Socialist envisions can be achieved is only through the use of force, and a strong central authority that can coerce the cooperation of all the members of society and assign priorities for the allocation of resources. However men in general in the beginning will resist coercive (forceful) societies and the only way such a government can assert itself is through threats, assassinations, violence, and the way only it can survive is through such methods, which is the case with 99% of Socialist/Communist countries.
“Most planners who have seriously considered the practical aspects of their task have little doubt that a directed economy must be run on more or less dictatorial lines. That the complex system of interrelated activities, if it is to be consciously directed at all, must be directed by a single staff of experts, and that ultimate responsibility and power must rest in the hands of a commander-in-chief whose actions must not be fettered by democratic procedure ----[planners believe that] by giving up freedom in what are, or ought to be, the less important aspects of our lives, we shall obtain greater freedom in the pursuit of higher values.” -FA Hayek
"Apart from the basic fact that the community of collectivism can extend only as far as the unity of purpose of the individuals exists or can be created, several contributory factors strengthen the tendency of collectivism to become particularist and exclusive. Of these, one of the most important is that the desire of the individual to identify himself with a group is very frequently the result of a feeling of inferiority and that therefore his want will be satisfied only if membership of the group confers some superiority over outsiders. Sometimes, it seems, the very fact that these violent instincts which the individual knows he must curb within the group can be given a free range in the collective action toward the outsider, becomes a further inducement for merging personality in that of the group---There is a profound truth expressed in the title of Reinhold Niebuhr's Moral Man and Immoral Society --- an increasing tendency among modern men to imagine themselves ethical because they have delegated their vices to larger and larger groups, To act on behalf of a group seems to free people of many of the moral restraints which control their behaviour as individuals within the group. " (p. 162)
In FA Hayek's words, instead of freedom and prosperity, bondage and misery stare us in the face. I write this review to warn my fellow man to be-ware of the Socialist, be-ware of the Communist, as these are the enemies of freedom, and an alliance with them is to be promised bondage in the guise of sweetness.
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