The Road to Serfdom

Wow. This book was written in 1944 and it could not be more applicable to the contemporary events of 2022. From discussing the “demise” of democracy and capitalism, the draw of socialism/communism, and the playbook of the collectivists that is literally exactly what we see in action to this very day.

Honestly, I was expecting this to be a bit of a slog. I mean, who really enjoys reading obscure economic texts, right? (If you do, you're probably right at home here on Goodreads, like me!) But I ended up finding this fascinating because though it was written nearly 80 years ago, it is almost like a spotlight on the political and social upheavals that are currently affecting our world. I have another book on my shelf - The Fourth Turning - that may explain why this is the case. At any rate, this book was written during the 2nd World War at a time of tremendous social upheaval. The scourge of fascism spreading throughout Western Europe. Socialism had taken over Eastern Europe along with strong support in the academia/Intelligentsia of the West. While the specifics of our time are certainly different, it's pretty clear that there's little new about the macroeconomic picture of the whole thing. Can we see things more clearly now because it's all published in real time on social media? Minus the parts that are censored. Or written off as misinformation.

I'll need to take a deep dive though this again soon as this is a TRULY IMPORTANT work that anyone who believes in individual freedom (aka Liberty) should internalize to large extent.