Hayek -- “Material Conditions and Ideal Ends”

That in this sphere of individual conduct the effect of collectivism has been almost entirely destructive is both inevitable and undeniable. A movement whose main promise is the relief from responsibility cannot but be antimoral in its effect, however lofty the ideals to which it owes its birth. Can there be any doubt that the feeling of personal obligation to remedy inequities, where our individual power permits, has been weakened rather than strengthened, that both the willingness to bear responsibility and the consciousness that it is our own individual duty to know how to choose have been perceptibly impaired? There is all the difference between demanding that a desirable state of affairs should be brought about by the authorities, or even being willing to submit provided everyone else is made to do the same, and the readiness to do what one thinks right one’s self at the sacrifice of one’s own desires and perhaps in the face of hostile public opinion. There is much to suggest that we have in fact become more tolerant toward particular abuses and much more indifferent to inequities in individual cases, since we have fixed our eyes on an entirely different system in which the state will set everything right. It may even be, as has been suggested, that the passion for collective action is a way in which we now without compunction collectively indulge in that selfishness which as individuals we had learned a little to restrain.

It is true that the virtues which are less esteemed and practiced now – independence, self-reliance, and the willingness to bear risks, the readiness to back one’s convictions against a majority, and the willingness to voluntary cooperation with one’s neighbors – are essentially those on which the working of an individualist society rests. Collectivism has nothing to put in their place, and in so far as it has destroyed them it has left a void filled by nothing but the demand for obedience and the compulsion of the individual to do what is collectively decided to be good. The periodical election of representatives, to which the moral choice of the individual tends to be more and more reduced, is not an occasion on which his moral values are tested or where he has constantly to reassert and prove the order of his values and to testify to the sincerity of his profession by the sacrifice of those of his values he rates lower to those he puts higher. – F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, pp. 232-233, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, University of Chicago Press

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I started to highlight a couple of points but decided that I’d wind up with more in boldface than not.

Hayek goes on in this chapter to point out that no one in a collectivist society calls on the masses to sacrifice material comforts and conveniences for moral values. In fact, our politicians of both parties tell us that we should all have free health care, nice homes, new cars and plenty to eat. All we have to do is give up some of our worthless values, our individualism, a little liberty here and there that no one will miss anyway, and the government will be able to give you what you want.

This does raise a point that is often neglected. What exactly are we willing to sacrifice for material goods? Or, what are we willing to give up in the way of material goods and comfort for the sake of liberty?

For most of us, opting out or “going Galt” would result in somewhat of a crimp in our style of life. That is, if the intrusiveness of government has not reached or does not reach a point such that opting out is even possible. On Wednesday, Governor Perry of Texas spoke without any seriousness of secession. Outside of an epic failure of the federal government, the sane among us know we have to take that suggestion in the same way it was given -- as a joke.

I think the real solution is mostly non-political. My citizenship is in the Kingdom of God.

Why do the nations rebel and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and His Anointed One [btw, His initials ain’t BHO]: “Let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them (Psalm 2:1-4).

God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble(Psalm 46:1).

Exaltation does not come from the east, the west, or the desert, for God is the judge: He brings down one and exalts another (Psalm 75:6-7).

He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him (Daniel 2:21-22).