F. A. Hayek - IU

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". "economicfreedom",withoutwhichthepolitic alfreedomalreadygainedwas"notworthhaving ".

3 OnlysocialismwascapableofeffectingI"Disc oursprononceaI'assembleeconstituanteIe12 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".While"progressives"inthiscount ryandelsewherewerestilldeludingthemselve sthatcommunismandfascismrepresentedoppos itepoles, ,Lenin'soldfriend,whofoundhimselfcompell edtoadmitthat"insteadofbeingbetter,Stali nismisworsethanfascism,moreruthless,barb arous,unjust,immoral,anti-democratic,unr edeemedbyanyhopeorscruple",andthatitis"b etterdescribedassuperfascist".

5 Andwhenwefindthesameauthorrecognisingtha t"Stalinismissocialism,inthesenseofbeing aninevitablealthoughunforeseenpoliticala ccompani-mentofthenationalisationandcoll ectivisationwhichhehadrelieduponaspartof hisplanforerectinga classlesssociety", 'scaseis perhapsthemostremarkable, ,whointwelveyearsinRussiaasanAmer-icanco rrespondenthadseenallhisidealsshattered, summeduptheconclusionsofhisstudiestherea ndinGermanyandItalyinthestatementthat"So cialismiscertaintoprove,inthebegin-ninga tleast,theroadNOTtofreedom,buttodictator shipandcounter-dictatorships, meansseemsdefinitelytobelongtotheworldof utopias."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.

6 Astheorganiseddirectionincreases, positiontojudgemightbeselectedfrompublic ationsofrecentyears, [ ]hasforcedRussiatotravelthesameroadtowar dsatotalitarian,purelynegative, thestagereachedaftercommunismhasprovedan illusion, ,November1936, ,1939, (himselfanex-MarxistFascist),Sozialismus undFaszismus,Munich1925, , ,and3 ,fromMussolinidownwards(andnotexcludingL avalandQuisling), 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.

7 Hitlerismproclaimsitselfasbothtruedemocr acyandtruesocialism,andtheterribletruthi sthatthereis a grainoftruthforsuchclaims-aninfinitesima lgrain,tobesure,butatanyTHEGREATUTOPIA31 rateenoughtoserveasa , 'Itshouldbeaddedthatthishatredhadlittleo ccasiontoshowitselfinpracticemerelybecau se,bythetimeHitlercametopower, wassocialismthathadkilledit.**Whiletoman ywhohavewatchedthetransitionfromsocialis mtofascismatclosequarterstheconnectionbe tweenthetwosystemshasbecomeincreasinglyo bvious, , ,soeasilydothemostirreconcilableidealsst illlivetogether,thatwecanstillhearsuchco ntradictionsintermsas"individualistsocia lism" ,noth-ingcanbemoreurgentthanthatweshould seriouslyexaminetherealsignificanceofthe evolutionthathastakenplaceISocialResearc h(NewYork), , , ,whatevermayhavebeenhisreasons,Hitlertho ughtit expedienttodeclareinoneofhispublicspeech esaslateasFebruary1941that"basicallyNati onalSocialismandMarxismarethesame"(CfThe BulletinofInternationalNewspublishedbyth eRoyalInstituteofInternationalAffairs, , , )

8 ,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".Itdoesnotneedmuchreflectiontoseeth atthesetermshavenosuffiCientlydefiniteme aningtodeterminea ,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.

9 Unitaryeconomicplanwouldmeana singleplanwouldraiseinnumerablequestions towhichtheanswercouldbeprovidedonlybya moralrule, ,becauseinthefreesocietyinwhichwehaveliv edtherehasbeenno62 THEROADTOSERFDOM occasiontothinkaboutthemandstilllesstofo rmcommonopinionsaboutthem.**Notonlydowen otpossesssuchanall-inclusivescaleofvalue s:itwouldbeimpossibleforanymindtocompreh endtheinfin-itevarietyofdifferentneedsof differentpeoplewhichcompetefortheavailab leresourcesandtoattacha ,orwhethertheyincludetheneedsofhiscloser oreventhoseofhismoredistantfellows-thati s, isimpossibleforanymantosurveymorethana limitedfield,tobeawareoftheurgencyofmore thana ,orwhetherhetakesawarminterestinthewelfa reofeveryhumanbeingheknows, doesnotassume,asis oftenasserted,thatmanisegoisticorselfish , impossibletoincludeinourscaleofvaluesmor ethana sectoroftheneedsofthewholesociety,andtha t,since,strictlyspeaking,scalesofvalueca nexistonlyinindi-vidualminds,nothingbutp artialscalesofvaluesexist, ,withindefinedlimits,tofollowtheirownval uesandpreferencesratherthansomebodyelse' s,thatwithinthesespherestheindividual' isthisrecognitionoftheindividualastheult imatejudgeofhisends.

10 Thebeliefthatasfaraspossiblehisownviewso ughttogovernhisactions, ,ofcourse,excludetherecognitionofsociale nds,orratherofa coincidenceofindividualendswhichmakesit instanceswhereindividualviewscoincide;wh atarecalled"socialends"areforit , ,peoplearemostlikelytoagreeoncommonactio nwherethecommonendisnotanultimateendtoth em,buta meanscapableofservinga jointefforttorealiseendstheyhaveincommon ,theorganisations,likethestate,thattheyf ormforthispurpose, thusformedremainsone"person"amongothers, inthecaseofthestatemuchmorepowerfulthana nyoftheothers,itistrue, ; ;therewillbeothersonwhichtherewillbeagre ementofa substantialmajority;andsoon,tillwecometo fieldswhere,althougheachindividual64 THEROADTOSERFDOM mightwishthestatetoactinsomeway, ,inwhichthestatecontrolsallthemeans,exce edsa certainpropor-tionofthewhole, ,theeffectsofitsdecisionsontheremainingp artoftheeconomicsystembecomesogreatthati ndirectlyitcontrols ,aswas,forexample,trueinGermanyasearlyas 1928,thecentralandlocalauthoritiesdirect lycontroltheuseofmorethanhalfthenational income(accordingtoanofficialGermanestima tethen,S3percent.)