F. A. Hayek

1 ~\Lf():I~~LondonandNewYork( <IS 5 \Firstpublished1944byGeorgeRoutledge&Son sFirstpublishedinRoutledgeClassics2001by Routledge2 ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OX144RN27 0 MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016 Reprinted2001,2002,2003,2004,2006 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylorCJ(Franci sGroup,aninformabusiness ,Bungay,SuffolkPrintedandboundinGreatBri tainbyTJInternationalLtd,Padstow, ,mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorherea fterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrec ording,orinanyinformationstorageorretrie valsystem, cataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefro mtheBritishLibraryISBN10:0-415-25543-0(h bk)ISBN10:0-415-25389-6(pbk)ISBN13:978-0 -415-25543-1(hbk)ISBN13:978-0-415-25389- 5(pbk)CONTENTSPREFACEviiIntroduction1 TheAbandonedRoad102 TheGreatUtopia243 IndividualismandCollectivism334 The"Inevitability"ofPlanning455 PlanningandDemocracy596 PlanningandtheRuleofLaw757 EconomicControlandTotalitarianism918 Who,Whom?))

2 1 ,butquiteopenlybeganasa reactionagainsttheliberalismoftheFrenchR evolution, "terminatetherevolution"bya deliberatereorganisationofTHEGREATUTOPIA 25societyonhierarchicallines,andtheimpos itionofa coercive"spiritualpower".Wherefreedomwas concerned, ,andthefirstofmodernplanners,Saint-Simon ,evenpre-dictedthatthosewhodidnotobeyhis proposedplanningboardswouldbe"treatedasc attle". "demo-craticsocialism"a :Democracyextendsthesphereofindividualfr eedom[hesaidin1848], ;socialismmakeseachmana mereagent, :whiledemocracyseeksequalityinliberty,so cialismseeksequalityinrestraintandservit ude.'Toallaythesesuspicionsandtoharnesst oitscartthestrongestofallpoliticalmotive s,thecravingforfreedom,socialismbeganinc reasinglytomakeuseofthepromiseofa"newfre edom".

3 "economicfreedom",withoutwhichthepolitic alfreedomalreadygainedwas"notworthhaving ".OnlysocialismwascapableofeffectingI"Di scoursprononceaI'assembleeconstituanteIe 12 Septembre1848surIaquestiondudroitautrava il."CEuvrescompletesd'AlexisdeTocquevi11 ~ ,1866, ,freedomfromthearbi-trarypowerofothermen ,releasefromthetieswhichlefttheindividua lnochoicebutobediencetotheordersofa ,however,wastobefreedomfromnecessity,rel easefromthecompulsionofthecircumstancesw hichinevitablylimittherangeofchoiceofall ofus, ,the"despotismofphysicalwant"hadtobebrok en,the"restraintsoftheeconomicsystem" ,ofcourse,merelyanothernameforpower! ,althoughthepromisesofthisnewfree-domwer eoftencoupledwithirresponsiblepromisesof a greatincreaseinmaterialwealthina socialistsociety,it ,whichweshallmeetagainandagainthroughout thisdiscussion,istoobiga ,itissocloselyalliedwithitthatalmostseve ntyyearsagoa Frenchscholar,discussingitsSaint-Simonia norigins,wasledtosaythatthistheoryoflibe rty"estaelleseuletoutIesocial-isme"CPoJa net,Saint-SimonetIeSaint-Simonisme,1878, ,note).

4 Themostexplicitdefenderofthisconfusionis ,significantly,theleadingphilosopherofAm ericanleft-wingism,JohnDewey,accordingto whom"libertyistheeffect-ivepowertodospec ificthings"sothat"thedemandforlibertyisd emandforpower"("LibertyandSocialControl" ,TheSocialFrontier,November19 35, ). differentsensebythetwogroups, ,forblindingthemtotheconflictwhichexists betweenthebasicprinciplesofsocialismandl iberalism, :thereforeitisnotsurprisingthattothemthe ideashouldappearinconceivableofsocialism leadingtotheoppositeofliberty.**Inrecent years,however, ,inspiteofthecontraryexpectationwithwhic hheapproachedhissubject,hasbeenimpressed withtheextraordin-arysimilarityinmanyres pectsoftheconditionsunder"fas-cism"and"c ommunism".

5 While"progressives"inthiscountryandelsew herewerestilldeludingthemselvesthatcommu nismandfascismrepresentedoppositepoles, ,Lenin'soldfriend,whofoundhimselfcompell edtoadmitthat"insteadofbeingbetter,Stali nismisworsethanfascism,moreruthless,barb arous,unjust,immoral,anti-democratic,unr edeemedbyanyhopeorscruple",andthatitis"b etterdescribedassuperfascist";andwhenwef indthesameauthorrecognisingthat"Stalinis missocialism,inthesenseofbeinganinevitab lealthoughunforeseenpoliticalaccompani-m entofthenationalisationandcollectivisati onwhichhehadrelieduponaspartofhisplanfor erectinga classlesssociety", 'scaseis perhapsthemostremarkable, ,whointwelveyearsinRussiaasanAmer-icanco rrespondenthadseenallhisidealsshattered, summeduptheconclusionsofhisstudiestherea ndinGermanyandItalyinthestatementthat"So cialismiscertaintoprove,inthebegin-ninga tleast,theroadNOTtofreedom,buttodictator shipandcounter-dictatorships, meansseemsdefinitelytobelongtotheworldof utopias.

6 "2 Similarlya Britishwriter, ,aftermanyyearsofcloseobservationofdevel op-mentsinEuropeasa foreigncorrespondent,concludesthat"Marxi smhasledtoFascismandNational-Socialism,b ecause,inallessentials,itisFascismandNat ionalSocialism". ,Stalin'sRussiaandtheCrisisofSocialism,1 940, ,AFalseUtopia,1937, ,UntoCcesar,1939, moreabundantlife,theymustin practicerenounceit;astheorganiseddirecti onincreases, positiontojudgemightbeselectedfrompublic ationsofrecentyears, [ ]hasforcedRussiatotravelthesameroadtowar dsatotalitarian,purelynegative, thestagereachedaftercommunismhasprovedan illusion, ,November1936, ,1939, (himselfanex-MarxistFascist),Sozialismus undFaszismus,Munich1925, , ,and3 ,fromMussolinidownwards(andnotexcludingL avalandQuisling)

7 , youngcommunistcouldbeconvertedintoa NaziorviceversawasgenerallyknowninGerman y, Universityteacherinthiscountryduringthe1 930shasseenEnglishandAmericanstudentsret urnfromtheContinent,uncertainwhetherthey werecommunistsorNazisandcertainonly ,ofcourse, ,therealenemy,themanwithwhomtheyhadnothi ngincommonandwhomtheycouldnothopetoconvi nce,is ,andtothecommunisttheNazi,andtoboththeso cialist,arepotentialrecruitswhoaremadeof therighttimber,althoughtheyhavelistenedt ofalseprophets, officialpropagandafromeitherside, "TheRediscoveryofLiberalism",ProfessorEd uardHeimann,oneoftheleadersofGermanrelig ioussocialism,writes:Hitlerismproclaimsi tselfasbothtruedemocracyandtruesocialism ,andtheterribletruthisthatthereis a grainoftruthforsuchclaims-aninfinitesima lgrain,tobesure,butatanyTHEGREATUTOPIA31 rateenoughtoserveasa , 'Itshouldbeaddedthatthishatredhadlittleo ccasiontoshowitselfinpracticemerelybecau se,bythetimeHitlercametopower, wassocialismthathadkilledit.

8 **Whiletomanywhohavewatchedthetransition fromsocialismtofascismatclosequartersthe connectionbetweenthetwosystemshasbecomei ncreasinglyobvious, , ,soeasilydothemostirreconcilableidealsst illlivetogether,thatwecanstillhearsuchco ntradictionsintermsas"individualistsocia lism" ,noth-ingcanbemoreurgentthanthatweshould seriouslyexaminetherealsignificanceofthe evolutionthathastakenplaceISocialResearc h(NewYork), , , ,whatevermayhavebeenhisreasons,Hitlertho ughtit expedienttodeclareinoneofhispublicspeech esaslateasFebruary1941that"basicallyNati onalSocialismandMarxismarethesame"(CfThe BulletinofInternationalNewspublishedbyth eRoyalInstituteofInternationalAffairs, , , )

9 ,thereasonswhythisdevelopmentcannotbereg ardedasaccidentalwillnotappearwithouta ,thegreatutopiaofthelastfewgenerations,i snotonlyunachievable,butthattostrivefori t producessomethingsoutterlydifferentthatf ewofthosewhonowwishitwouldbepreparedtoac cepttheconsequences, ,wouldnotonlyloadhimselfwitha mostunnecessaryattention,butassumeanauth oritywhichcouldsafelybetrustedtonocounci landsenatewhatever,andwhichwouldnowhereb esodangerousasinthehandsofa ,ina phraseeverdeartosocialistsofallschools, "con-scious"directiontowardsa singleaim,thatitsactivitiesareguidedbyth ewhimsandfanciesofirresponsibleindividua ls, A DTOS E R ,communism,fascism,etc., , , "socialgoal",or"commonpurpose",forwhichs ocietyistobeorganised,is usuallyvaguelydescribedasthe"commongood" ,orthe"generalwelfare",orthe"generalinte rest".

10 Itdoesnotneedmuchreflectiontoseethatthes etermshavenosuffiCientlydefinitemeaningt odeterminea ,likethehappinessofa man,dependsona singleend,butonlyasa hierarchyofends,a singleplanpresupposesthateveryoneofourne edsisgivenitsrankinanorderofvalueswhichm ustbecompleteenoughtomakeit ,inshort,theexistenceofa completeethicalcodeisunfamiliaranditrequ iressomeeffortofimaginationtoseewhatit socialcodeprescribinghowweoughttochoose, doesnotsurpriseus, ,andaretobeusedinthenameofsocietyaccordi ngtoa unitaryplan,a "social" maymerelybepointedoutthatuptothepresentt hegrowthofcivilisationhasbeenaccompanied bya activities,whowaslimitedbyinnumerabletab oos,andwhocouldscarcelyconceiveofdoingth ingsinawaydifferentfromhisfellows, unitaryeconomicplanwouldmeana singleplanwouldraiseinnumerablequestions towhichtheanswercouldbeprovidedonlybya moralrule, ,becauseinthefreesocietyinwhichwehaveliv edtherehasbeenno62 THEROADTOSERFDOM occasiontothinkaboutthemandstilllesstofo rmcommonopinionsaboutthem.