“We must here return for a moment to the position which precedes the suppression of democratic institutions and the creation of a totalitarian regime. In this state it is the general demand for quick and determined government action that is the dominating element in the situation, dissatisfaction with the slow and cumbersome course of democratic procedure which makes action for action’s sake the goal. It | Read More »
It really is amazing how much The Road to Serfdom can tell us about today’s world. The following passage jumped out at me during the reading this week: The power of the planner over our private lives would be no less complete if he chose not to exercise it by direct control of our consumption. Although a planned society would probably to some extent employ | Read More »
In Chapter Five of The Road to Serfdom, Hayek points out that in order for any central planning to work, there must be some sort of national “moral code”. The government needs some sort of hierarchy to decide what projects to move forward with, and what to ignore. For example: If the government runs GM, should the auto manufacturer make hybrids or trucks? If the | Read More »
It is, for example, at least conceivable that the British automobile industry might be able to supply a car cheaper and better than cars used to be in the United States if everyone in England were made to use the same kind of car or that the use of electricity for all purposes could be made cheaper than coal or gas if everybody could be | Read More »
For this week’s discussion, I read the first two chapters of The Road to Serfdom. If you haven’t picked up your copy yet, run out and get it. The book is pretty easy to read, and the chapters aren’t very long. Hayek argues that in promoting a socialist type agenda, many of his contemporaries had abandoned freedom. He argues that in pursuing a socialist agenda, | Read More »
My copy of The Road to Serfdom contains four different introductions. While reading introduction number two, I came across a section that really made me think, and I wanted to explore that today with the Red State community. In the section entitled, Forward to the 1956 American Paperback edition, Hayek spends some time discussing the terms liberal and conservative. In explaining his intention of how | Read More »
This is my final entry for The Law by Frederick Bastait. As I said last time, I have really enjoyed this book. It was a very quick read, and really made me think. Is there anything more one could ask from a book? There are two points I want to focus on this week from the reading. Law and Charity are not the same. “The | Read More »
This week’s reading in Frederick Bastiat’s The Law, can be divided into two parts: what do socialists believe, and what is liberty? I think Mr. Bastiat does a good job of explaining both. What Do Socialists Believe? Citing a number of contemporary author’s, Mr. Bastiat explains the socialist view in their own words. He cites Bossuet, Fenelon, Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Raynal. Each of them discuss | Read More »
This is my first entry for the new Red State Booknotes version 3.0. It’s hard to pick a point in the first twenty pages of The Law to discuss for this post. I am so amazed at this book that I would like to just reprint the twenty pages and be done with it. However, if I must pick, there is one point towards the | Read More »
I would like to re-re-start the book notes project. I really enjoyed it both times we’ve tried to do it. I also found that I really learned a lot from the books. This isn’t sanctioned by Erick (that I know of), but I am going forward with it. Erick had originally wanted to do Frederic Bastait’s The Law. I humbly suggest we read it and | Read More »
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