Totalitarianism is Involved
The Road to Serfdom was written during World War II by Friedrich Hayek who was a British-Austrian economist and philosopher. Ultimately, this book shows how socialist ideas can only be met if totalitarianism is involved within the country and economy, which ultimately leads to no individual freedom. After World War II began to slow down, there was a new ideology seeming to take the place of Nazi Germany, which was socialism. Prior to Hitler’s time, there were economic regulations put onto the people by the states due to the money crisis that took place after the first world war. This control put on by the state to the people was somewhat a totalitarian system, which had allowed for the Nazi party to take over in the first place, as well as fascism. The United States was beginning to show some socialistic values, as well as the United Kingdom in 1944. Hayek thought that the United States and the United Kingdom were moving towards totalitarianism by the state holding more power over economic and private issues than society itself.
Lack of Freedom
By the end of World War II, there was a common idea among people that socialism involved equality of choice and freedom, but this couldn’t have been farther off. Socialism involves the values of social justice, equality, and security, but it also is associated with taking away private enterprise. In other words, in a socialist economy, no one can own anything private, and the means of production will be owned by the government. The only type of equality within socialism is the equality of power and wealth, which will never work in a society that promotes individualism.
Individual Rights
On top of socialism going against individualism, it also will never be able to counter exist in a democracy, because it would be major chaos. For example, the entirety of society could vote for a planned economy, but then there would have to be another vote for what the plan would be. Furthermore, every person has different morals, values, etc. in a society, which would ultimately lead to lots of issues within a planned economy. The minority would eventually be the group of society deciding for the whole, which is on the way to being a dictatorship type of government that has no value for freedom or democracy. Individual rights would be practically taken away, due to the flexible judging of law, whereas in a nonplanned economy, the rule of law is the same for every situation and is judged by parliament. In addition to this, in a planned economy, the planner holds the most power over everyone and everything. They decide who works where depending on their qualifications and also where you will live. With this being said, having one group in charge of practically everything going on in the country and being in charge of everyone would make for a miserable experience and life. Also, individualism became so important to implement into society after World War I instead of collectivism. Individualism allowed for social morals and values that collectivism didn’t allow for.
Group in Charge
Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of socialism, most of the time there are people in charge that are simply not fit to be in charge of society, the economy, and the government. The group in charge of the plan needs to be able to agree in order to make decisions, but a group that agrees on everything usually hasn’t been educated a lot. The further someone is educated typically means they begin to form their own thoughts and differ from those around them. This would mean that either the group in charge wouldn’t be as educated and they would agree, or they would never be able to agree. Also, in order for the dictator to work for the great good of society, they have to distribute wealth among society. They also have to make decisions that people who believe in individualism and democracy would never agree with.
How to Hold Power
A totalitarian system requires society to agree with their ideas fully in order to hold power. If every person in society doesn’t fully believe in the plan, the group will not continue to hold power. There will be propaganda and the media involved in making society fully believe in the plan. The planner will be able to control information, so there will not be any propaganda in opposition to the plan.
My Opinion
I believe that what Friedrich Hayek has many great points in his book “The Road to Serfdom” to show that socialism is a dangerous, rotten type of government that can turn into even worse things, like totalitarianism. I believe that by some people in society wanting to spread out the means of production will never end up as a good result. There is no incentive to work and eventually, there will not be any money to share anymore. I think socialism can possibly lead to a government like the one of Hitler. A planned government leads to the loss of individualism and moral values within a society.
'Image Source'
“The Road to Serfdom.” University of Chicago Press, 1 Mar. 2007, press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo4138549.html.
