Hayek's The Road to Surfdom: April 1945 Reader's Digest condensed version (HT: DF)

http://www.cblpi.org/ftp/Econ/RoadtoSerfdom_ReadersDigest_and_Cartoon_Versions.pdf


The Road to Serfdom
with The Intellectuals and Socialism

FRIEDRICH A. HAYEK


t h e c o n d e n s e d v e r s i o n o f t h e roa d t o s e r f d o m
by f . a . h ay e k a s i t a p p e a r e d i n t h e a p r i l 1 9 4 5
e d i t i o n o f r e a d e r’ s d i g e st



"In a planned society the law must legalize what to all intents
and purposes remains arbitrary action. If the law says that such
a board or authority may do what it pleases, anything that board
or authority does is legal – but its actions are certainly not subject
to the Rule of Law. By giving the government unlimited powers
the most arbitrary rule can be made legal; and in this way a democracy
may set up the most complete despotism imaginable."