Serf's Up

"I caught my first tube today, sir."
--Johnny Utah (Point Break)

Some nice quotes from Hayek (1944) Chapter 5 'Planning and Democracy.' Boldface emphasis mine.

"The common features of all collectivist systems may be described, in a phrase ever dear to socialists of all schools, as the deliberate organization of the labors of society for a definite social goal."

"...the individualist concludes that the individuals should be allowed, within defined limits, to follow their own values and preferences rather than somebody else's; that within these spheres the individual's system of ends should be supreme and not subject to any dictation by others. It is this recognition of the individual as the ultimate judge of his ends, the belief that as far as possible his own views ought to govern his actions, that forms the essence of the individualist position."

"When individuals combine in a joint effort to realize ends they have in common, the organizations, like the state, that they form for this purpose are given their own system of ends and their own means. But any organization thus formed remains one 'person' among others, in the case of the state much more powerful than any of the others, it is true, yet still with its separate and limited sphere in which alone its ends are supreme. The limits of this sphere are determined by the extent to which the individuals agree on particular ends, and the probability that they will agree on a particular course of action necessarily decreases as the scope of such action extends."

"We can rely on voluntary agreement to guide the action of the state only so long as it is confined to spheres where agreement exists. But not only where the state undertakes direct control in fields where there is no such agreement is it bound to suppress individual freedom."

"It is often said that democracy will not tolerate capitalism. If 'capitalism' means here a competitive system based on free disposal over private property, it is far more important to realize that only within this system is democracy possible. When it becomes dominated by a collectivist creed, democracy will inevitably destroy itself."

Reference

Hayek, F. 1944. The road to serfdom. Chicago: The University of Chicago.