Throughout my interactions with this article I found myself continuously thinking that these espoused ideals were incredibly outdated and largely attributed it to the fact that this was written in 1945 and therefore was of little importance in modern times as we have experienced such a vast global shift since then. However, after closer inspection the very ideals F.A. Hayek writes about protecting only seem outdated because they have in some part vanished from our society leading me to ask, are we currently on The Road to Serfdom? Beginning with the three “symptoms” Hayek describes: Increase in veneration for the state, Fatalistic acceptance of “inevitable trends”, and Enthusiasm for “organization” of everything, I figured I would describe continued modern trends in these symptoms to further suggest that America is in fact traveling on the road to serfdom.
Presidential Candidate or Worshiped Idol?
Beginning with “increase in veneration for the state,” something that is often spouted as “American Nationalism” during pivotal electoral years, brought about by the continuation of support for polarization among political parties. I believe that one of the greatest downfalls in American politics is the adoption and acceptance of political strife in U.S. politics and the continual push against finding common ground. The reason why I believe this leads to veneration of the state is due to the fact that we no longer have debates based on policy or platform, we instead pour so much of our political affiliation into the candidate themselves that we develop a deep adoration for them holding this person in such high regards that our attacks are person based not policy. Since our politics have now been boiled down to a single entity it causes political groups to form nearly cult-like followings for these individuals allowing them to profess any solution to any issue knowing their constituents will agree simply based on the premises that their candidate is not the opposing one. This emulates the exact dangers Hayek warned us about, directly reflecting ideals 2 and 3 expressed about forming a large group from the worst elements of society. The first being, “The ruler must gain the support of the gullible who have convictions of their own yet will accept this system of values only if it is consistently drummed into their ears” (Hayek, 53). We are all in continual search for betterment for society and each have a different opinion regarding the best ways to accomplish our individual goals. However, due to the mass polarization of our political climate we are tricked into believing that our only option is to choose one side of the political spectrum and continuously support their policies no matter how far away it may venture from us accomplishing our personal ideals. The second ideal expressed about forming a large group from the worst elements of society, “Lastly, they must weld together a closely coherent body of supporters and the leader must appeal to a common human weakness” (Hayek, 53), only continues to emulate our undying support for our chosen and highly idolized political leaders. If you notice in recent media whenever it comes time for a presidential candidate or president elect to address the opposing political party there is rarely a positive to be seen, which directly reflects the “common human weakness,” Hayek warns us about as we are so quick to despise and jump on a bandwagon of hate but we take much longer to find trust in others and find the good in someone who is not exactly like us.
Inevitable Stationary Silence
As Hayek states, “In every real sense a badly paid unskilled workman in this country has more freedom to shape his life than many an employer in Germany or a much better paid engineer or manager in Russia. If he wants to change his job or the place where he lives, if he wants to profess certain views or spend his leisure in a particular way, he faces no absolute impediments” (Hayek, 41). Although this might have been true at the time of his writing I would argue that this in itself represents one of our “inevitable trends,” that we have simply come to accept, as we have since faced such a harsh divide between the wealthy and the impoverished in this nation that just like Germany and Russia it is nearly impossible to assume that all citizens truly have freedom over their lives. Starting out in a less literal but still equal way, just like in Russia it is now much harder now in the U.S. to uproot your life and simply choose a new career. Unless you are able to obtain a great deal of wealth, freely moving and quitting your job is improbable as many Americans live paycheck to paycheck in this modern economy not allowing them the choice of quitting their job. Although we face limited legal restraints when it comes to the physical act of quitting our jobs or moving freely we are faced with severe economic restraints brought about by our own policy and financial regulation acting as our own form of political captivity like Russia and Germany have. Since we have witnessed the rest of the world succumbing to these trends we have simply accepted this fate as inevitable. Furthermore, although we do have an expressed right to freedom of speech in our Constitution I would urge you to consider the fact that free speech has not been truly free for a long time and I would argue it has been in a slow decline since the Red Scare in the 1940’s and 50’s around the same time this was published. While yes you are technically given the expressed right to vocalize your own opinions and peacefully protest I would argue that your right to do so is mainly contingent based upon the currently ruling political party. Media outlets are silenced, protests are forcefully broken apart, and social media corporations quickly move to take down posted opposing political content, so while we may be under the guise of having total political freedom of speech in all actuality we really don’t.
Controlling the Media Controls the Narrative
In recent times several companies like Facebook and Tik Tok have faced great backlash after being heavily criticized for censoring certain content that supports one side of the political spectrum and not censoring forms of content that promote the other side of the political spectrum. In similarity, currently our White House is under fire for alleged attempts to control the media through limiting the press pool allowed in highly regarded spaces such as Air Force One and the Oval Office which have historically been places of great significance for political reporters. In addition, our nation has faced mass book bans, censorship of language on the internet, and a continuation of conviction based on the Espionage Act of 1917. This all relates to this idea of enthusiasm for “organization” or “planning” as if we are continuously placed in echo chambers of propaganda all supporting planning then we will never have room to create ideals for ourselves as we are brought up believing there is no other option aside from the plans presented to us. Furthermore, media controls and censorship all lead to the suppression of those who vocalize their dismay in regards to the “plans” and by hiding those who express discontent with organization we only further increase enthusiasm for the plans by creating a false sense of peace and acceptance surrounding these plans.