Frederick Hayek's Road to Serfdom has been promoted recently by opponents of policies passed by Democrats in Congress and supported by President Obama. Written during World War II and the heyday of Nazism and the rise of Communism, the book argued that a society where governments centrally plan their economies inevitably become tyrannical. The debatable question is whether universal health care, countercyclical economic policymaking (the stimulus), and banking re-regulation pushes the nation towards tyranny, or whether they are sensible means of addressing national problems. It's a worthy argument.
One writer argues that he sees tendencies towards "serfdom" in each party's agendas. Are both Democrats and Republicans supporting (separate) policies that enhance the power of the state? Democrats seek to expand government's power over the economic sphere while Republicans support expansions of police activity.
This article is useful in many contexts, including our upcoming discussion of civil liberties in 2301.
For more background:
- Wikipedia: The Road to Serfdom.
- Google Books.
- The Illustrated Road to Serfdom.
- Ummmmm...What's a Serf?
