Hayek speaks out against the detriments of central planning, totalitarian governments, and how they affect competition and the freedom of choice in his book "The Road to Serfdom." One particularly striking statement he made was, "Planning and competition can be combined only by planning for competition, not by planning against competition." (p. 46) Because of the use of the word "only," I was intrigued to see if successfully socialist countries had centrally planned economies. There are fifteen socialist countries that have succeeded whilst being under a socialist government, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, and most notably China. (Rehman) Out of these 15 countries, the markets were either free or a mix of free and centrally planned, thus proving the lasting validity of Hayek's words when it comes to planning and competition. Another statement Hayek made that strongly reminded me of today's culture was the quote, "Control extends even to subjects which seem to have no political significance... Every activity must derive its justification from conscious social purpose. There must be no spontaneous, unguided activity, because it might produce results which cannot be foreseen and for which the plan does not provide." (p. 56)* When first read, a person of today's society can easily connect this to the rage that is cancel culture, specifically the cancel culture infestation in the government.* For example, Florida attempted to pass a bill that would have '... prohibited state and local governments from doing business with major tech companies like Facebook and Twitter." (Brady) Because of these major tech companies' slight bias, the legislature tried to indirectly centrally plan the economy and prohibit business and the free market. The bill didn't pass, but it was recent, an attempt made in 2021. Another example of this attempted economic control because of social issues is a letter threatening major financial institutions that were boycotting carbon emissions. These financial institutions were threatened the loss of "billions in combined contracts if they failed..." to stop boycotting companies with traditional energy. (Brady) This letter was cosigned by Louisiana Treasurer John Schroeder and numerous other treasurers and financial officers. In comparison to Bastiat's form of writing, not all of Hayek's work is pure criticism. He tries to be understanding of why socialism might be an attractive construct and the intentions of the men behind it. He calls modern socialists' promise of greater freedom "...genuine and sincere..." and there is truth to his words. It is widely speculated that college students tend to have socialist views, and this isn't because the students hate the country, they're living in. They truly believe it will better society, and is not an ideal formed by malice. Although both Hayek and Bastiat made strong points in their work about socialism, Hayek demonstrated the sympathy that Bastiat seemingly lacked, therefore constructing a more persuasive argument.
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