The book restates deep principles that hark back to earlier centuries; one volume cannot expand on these and related precepts that have for so long been considered out of date. Therefore, Hayek suggests additional reading, including books old and new. The list reaches all the way back to the Federalist Papers; Hayek reminds us that freedom was not always taken for granted.

Nazi-Socialism

This short 1933 essay by Hayek argues against the notion that Nazism is merely reactionary. Instead, “National Socialism is a genuine socialist movement” that fulfills the anti-liberal movements of previous decades (245). It coordinated with corporate forces partly because business leaders themselves fell for the bromides of collectivism. Nazis then quickly commandeered much of industry.

Nazis objected only to socialism’s liberal and internationalist sympathies; otherwise, they accepted the program. In Nazi propaganda, “the dominant feature is a fierce hatred of anything capitalistic” (246).

The anti-rational trend in Nazism came from the Marxian idea that bourgeois thought was conditioned by the social system and therefore invalid. Anti-rationalism makes simpler the idea that force, instead of tolerance, is the valid path.

Nazism allows for some private ownership, but this is largely due to the party’s dependence on middle-class shop owners and artisans, who soon enough find their lives heavily regulated.