Hayek, The Road to Serfdom - 26th session

Tuesday, January 5, 2021, 26th

The Road to Serfdom Reading Discussion, 26th Online Meeting: Kangyoung, Rosha, Mori

Chapter 12. The Socialist Roots of Nazism

Socialist support that brought about the rise of National Socialist forces

- People often make the mistake of regarding National Socialism (Nazism, fascism) simply as a revolt against reason, that is, as an irrational movement with no intellectual background.

- National Socialism has continued to reappear, unchanged, for 150 years.

- National Socialism, which kept reappearing over and over again, was despised each time and yet ultimately came to power not because of bourgeois help, but thanks to support from the socialist camp. In other words, it came to power because of the absence of a strong bourgeoisie.

- When the liberal elements within Marxism, namely its internationalist and democratic elements, became obstacles to the realization of socialism, the anti-capitalist forces of the left and right (radical socialism and conservative socialism) joined together to drive out those liberal elements.

p.241

It is a common mistake to regard National Socialism simply as a revolt against reason, that is, as an irrational movement with no intellectual background. If that were true, it would be far less dangerous than it actually is. But nothing could be further from the facts or more misleading than such a view. The doctrines of National Socialism are the culmination of a long evolution of ideas, a process in which thinkers participated whose influence extended far beyond Germany.

p.242

Many people would like to believe that the cause was a capitalist reaction against the advance of socialism, but this is even harder to regard as the real cause. On the contrary, the support that enabled this ideology to seize power came precisely from the socialist camp. What helped it gain power was clearly not the bourgeoisie, but rather the absence of a strong bourgeoisie.

p.243

What drove everything liberal out of Germany was precisely the alliance of anti-capitalist forces on the left and right, namely radical socialism and conservative socialism.

p.254 Spengler

“The final three nations of the West [not in the present-day geographic sense of the East, but in contrast to Western England, referring to regions including Germany] pursued three types of existence represented by three famous slogans: freedom, equality, community. These types appear respectively under the political systems of liberal parliamentarianism, social democracy, and authoritarian socialism. ... The German, or more precisely the Prussian, instinct is that ‘power belongs to the whole.’ Every person is assigned his place. People either command or obey. If one follows only what English liberalism and French democracy intended, this has, since the 18th century, been authoritarian socialism, essentially illiberal and anti-democratic. ... In Germany, many extremes are hated or held in low regard, but uniquely, liberalism alone is despised on German soil.

The structure of England is based on the distinction between rich and poor. But the structure of the Prussian state is based on the distinction between command and obedience. Therefore, the meaning of class distinctions is fundamentally different in the two countries.”

p.255 Spengler

“The decisive question that Germany must answer not only for itself but on behalf of the whole world is this: in the future, should industry govern the state, or should the state govern industry? In the face of this question, Prussianism and socialism are the same. ... Prussianism and socialism fight the Englishness within us.”

p.257 When socialism and conservatism, or left-wing socialism and right-wing socialism, meet, liberalism is eradicated

The struggle against every form of liberalism was the common idea that united socialists and conservatives into a single front.

... Just as in Germany, we can now see in England as well that left-wing socialists and right-wing socialists (Keynesians) are drawing closer to one another and showing contempt for everything that used to be considered free in the old sense. “Conservative socialism” (and in other circles “religious socialism”) was precisely the slogan that, under the influence of that ideology, prepared the atmosphere for the success of “National Socialism.” At present, “conservative socialism” is becoming the dominant tendency in England.

The reason liberals must keep trying to hold on to and persuade conservative circles with socialist policy inclinations is that when right-wing socialists and left-wing socialists join forces to eradicate liberalism, society rapidly moves toward fascism.

Chapter 13. The Totalitarians in Our Midst

The spread of the German ideal

- The Nazi Germany that committed atrocities seemingly from a completely different world had changed dramatically in just a few years. (Germany 15 years earlier was completely different from what it later became.)

- The early signs of movement toward Nazi Germany were the growing similarity between left and right in their economic views, their shared opposition to liberalism, increasing praise of the state, admiration for great power itself, the organization of everything, and the inability to leave things to the simple force of spontaneous growth. This was no different from the situation in Britain at the time this was written.

- Characteristics of Germany: the mobilized form of industrial activity even in peacetime, the end of individualism, the establishment of a regulatory regime, the strengthening of the organized unity of the state for efficiency, suspicion toward industrial policy that regarded the whole world as one market, and a new power system that did not take profit into account. The deglobalization the world now faces resembles Germany’s path toward fascism.

- The similarity between British political books and German Nazi writings appears not in specific claims but in temperament in approaching problems: the attitude of destroying all cultural connections with the past and the impatience to stake everything on the success of a particular experiment.

In other words, totalitarianism reveals itself not in its stated goals but in the methods and attitudes chosen to solve problems. This is why PC ideology and the feminist movement, though they claim noble goals, are manifestations of totalitarianism: because of their attitude.

p.260

The German experience: signs of progression from socialism to fascism.

1. Economic views on the left and right become more similar; this is the most important feature.

2. A common tendency on both the left and the right to oppose liberalism.

3. Increasing praise of the state.

4. Glorification of power and collectivization.

5. A tendency toward the organization of everything.

6. An inability to entrust anything to the simple process of “organic spontaneous growth.”

What signs are visible in our society today?

p.263

(The similarity between British right-wing socialism and German Nazism) appears less in particular claims than in temperament in approaching problems. The attitude of destroying all cultural connections with the past, and the impatience to stake everything on the success of a particular experiment, are precisely such temperamental similarities.

A more German historical realism

= It points out the problems in the thought of E. H. Carr, whose writings shaped the historical and worldview of our society as a whole.

- A master of the realist school of historiography; he made morality a function of politics and predicted the disappearance of traditional old morality.

- Predicted the arrival of a future society based on a totalitarian model.

- Asserted that “the distinction between ‘society’ and ‘state,’ a concept very familiar in 19th-century thought, no longer has much meaning for us”; this is a core totalitarian idea.

- Viewed the tendency against the classical laissez-faire economic system as a historical inevitability.

- Showed contempt for all the ideas of liberal economists.

- Reflected on the moral function of war; praised war as the most powerful tool for social solidarity and as creating a vivid sense of meaning and purpose.

How deeply has the intellectual world of our society been colored by this person’s worldview and view of history?

The totalitarianism of scientists

- The phenomenon of scientists agitating for the scientific organization of society was a tendency in fascist Germany.

- In Germany’s modern history, political professors played a major role in spreading the tendency to organize society from above.

- Scientists and experts often display an “intolerance of reason,” an inability to tolerate the ordinary ways of ordinary people, and a contempt for anything not consciously organized by superiors according to a scientific blueprint. Such tendencies lead scientists to take the lead in totalitarian social organization.

- This is also a result of thoroughly shifting most of the education system from the “humanities” to the “practical fields.”

This passage calls to mind preventive medicine experts who defend current government policy.

p.269–270

Why do experts tend toward leftist and totalitarian inclinations?

1. Scientific experts have a tendency toward “intolerance of reason.”

2. Experts generally find it difficult to accept the ordinary ways of ordinary people.

3. They tend to despise anything not consciously organized by superiors according to a scientific blueprint.

This becomes especially evident when the education system is shifted from the “humanities” to the “practical fields.”

“The first person to argue that the teaching of the classics should be suppressed because it instills the dangerous spirit of freedom was Hobbes, the author of Leviathan.”

!!The monopoly path of capital!! - An important chapter. I recommend reading the whole thing carefully.

- Various attempts to create middle-class socialism appeared in both Germany and Britain.

- The driving force of totalitarian trends comes mainly from two established interests: organized capital and organized labor. It becomes dangerous when these two groups form a policy alliance. (Cooperation between the two groups in the monopolistic organization of industry)

- If capitalists succeed in obtaining the support of other groups and, with their help, secure the support of the state, it develops into a fatal situation.

- A system in which large privileged groups gain monopoly profits is politically more dangerous than one in which profits go to a limited few.

- Where monopoly is unavoidable, it is better to allow private monopoly than direct state management. And if even that is impossible, he says it may be preferable for the state to impose strict price controls through a “consistent” policy, leaving no room for abnormal profits to arise and keeping prices under enough pressure that no surplus gain is created sufficient to attract new entrants.

The monopoly path of labor

- Recent monopoly has been the result of deliberate cooperation between organized capital and organized labor. (This was especially the case in Sweden.) Labor’s privileged groups seek to share in monopoly at the expense of less organized industries and the unemployed.

- The slogans used at such times, such as “balanced economy” and “community consumption,” are in fact derived from German totalitarian ideology.

Hayek exposes the fact that the roots of totalitarianism lie in a long-standing socialist orientation, and that such totalitarian tendencies were widespread even in Britain, which at the time was fighting Germany. What about our society today?

Anyone who wishes to join the online reading group every Tuesday evening is invited to the open chat room at the link below.

https://open.kakao.com/o/gX3OIqtb

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Original title: 하이에크 <노예의 길>-26차

Author: Jayujuui Ipmun Dokseotoronmoim

Date: 2021-01-05

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=reading01&pn=6&idx=23396