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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
The strong man is given power...
In desperation, "planners" authorize the new party leader to hammer out a plan and force it's obedience. Later, they will dispense with him -- or so they think. //Friedrich Hayek
In desperation, "planners" authorize the new party leader to hammer out a plan and force it's obedience. Later, they will dispense with him -- or so they think. //Friedrich Hayek
Very relevant to today and what's happening in the US and across Europe. Lots of great insights, and he writes clearly on why socialism is completely opposed to liberty, but only three stars as it felt repetitive and was a bit of a tough read. However, I do recommend that you read this.
informative
medium-paced
The Road to Serfdom’ is pretty much a criticism of socialism and its attempts to plan the economy centrally that lead to tyranny of various degrees. It is also a celebration of liberty and the free market. It’s an interesting read, and gives food for thought on planned economies, but I don’t see any argument for why individual freedom should be an organizing feature of any society when it is that very individual freedom that promotes a selfishness that leads to sweat shops, exploitation, homelessness, and poverty.
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I read this book when I was about 19 and it dramatically shifted my outlook on the role a government should take in society and raised consequences which I hadn’t previously considered. I thought it was about time to read it again. I think I have an added appreciation as to the ease which it reads when compared to the often clunky books on similar subjects.
Time has only proven that Hayek has been more often than not correct in his assessments and outlooks. Hayak was a liberal of the old school variety which has, unfortunately, all but died out in modern American politics.
Great cautionary message from Hayek! He offers good insights on the potential abuse of power from a government that enforces polices under the banner of "for the greater good of our community". Despite having a concise message across the narrative, it is at times too simplistic and at most can be recognised as a sound critique against the predominant, Keynesian economics around the advanced nations. Regardless of the inability of the central message being unable to stand as a cohesive theory on its own, it is still worth a good read.
informative
I tend to lean libertarian regarding economics and have been interested in reading something by Hayek and found this audiobook available on my library system. After going through this book, I can see why this book was so influential.
He published the book at a pivotal time when WW2 was beginning to wrap up (1944). The book's first part is a warning about the dangers of central planning (a key component of socialism). The main threat is tyranny. This era was when both the US and Britain were doing a lot of central planning during the war, and there was a fear that they would continue to do this after the war ended. He does a masterful job of pointing out the pitfalls.
I found the book prophetic due to what later happened in the USSR, China, and other communist/socialist countries.
The book also made me realize that the US is still far from true socialism, but we are going in that direction. We are becoming more of a welfare state, but so far, there is no push to do significant centralized planning or nationalizing our industries.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the writings of an icon of libertarian thought.
He published the book at a pivotal time when WW2 was beginning to wrap up (1944). The book's first part is a warning about the dangers of central planning (a key component of socialism). The main threat is tyranny. This era was when both the US and Britain were doing a lot of central planning during the war, and there was a fear that they would continue to do this after the war ended. He does a masterful job of pointing out the pitfalls.
I found the book prophetic due to what later happened in the USSR, China, and other communist/socialist countries.
The book also made me realize that the US is still far from true socialism, but we are going in that direction. We are becoming more of a welfare state, but so far, there is no push to do significant centralized planning or nationalizing our industries.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the writings of an icon of libertarian thought.
