I read Friedrich Hayek's Road to Serfdom in high school, along with plenty of Orwell, Bastiat and Rand. It's a wonder I wasn't seeing Collectivists under every rock. But seriously, he did a lot to form my views on economics and political theory, and caused me to think more deeply about the preservation of liberty.
So it was great to come across an overview of his life and work on the Boston Globe's ideas page. I hadn't known, for instance, of his contributions to cognitive science and information technology or that he'd been an influence on Foucault and post-modernism (nobody's perfect.)
It was also encouraging to look back at a time when advocates of freedom were embattled and the forces of collectivization quite nearly ruled the day.
"Caldwell, who is editing Hayek's collected works for the University of Chicago Press, is currently working on the project's edition of "The Road to Serfdom," a task that entails reading the largely forgotten contemporary works with which Hayek was contending."It's almost chilling to read some of these books. They were willing to accept fairly massive interventions in the economy -- directing labor, who should be working at what jobs and that kind of thing," says Caldwell. He adds, "'The Road to Serfdom' today reads reasonably, most of it.
You read these other books and you feel like you're on another planet."
We now live in a time when free markets and free societies have become the ideal, thanks to the brave fight men like Hayek fought during the uncertain days of the Cold War.
Posted by Discoshaman at janvier 23, 2004 12:20 AM | TrackBack
Wow I'm impressed. I just tried to read Hayek last year at twice the age you were in high school, and utterly failed. From everything I've heard the guy's ideas were great, but man what a turgid writer!
Posted by: pentamom at janvier 23, 2004 12:05 AMWhere the heck did you go to school????*g*
Posted by: Lana at janvier 23, 2004 08:01 AMpentamom-
Don't be TOO impressed. Geerhardus Vos's "Biblical Theology" and Ludwig von Mises "Socialism" still continue to repulse me every time I take a run at them. And I have to admit, after three of his novels, that I'm a fan of Faulkner more for his person than for his prose. :)
Lana-
I went to two of them. The first was a standard high school, though with decent academics. The second was one I'd attended in Junior High as well -- Pineview School for the Gifted.
It's a weird little place, a sort of private public school. They give you a two-day battery of tests to enter, and then you're in a 12-grade school with maybe 700 kids. I think around 40% were Jewish, and everyone's dad is a doctor or lawyer. It was a bit of a culture shock for a truck driver's kid. :)
But the academics were incredible. Several of the teachers had their doctorates, and the students were allowed a lot of self-direction. I'm thankful to have had the chance.
Posted by: Discoshaman at janvier 23, 2004 01:52 PM