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Friedrich August von (F.A.) Hayek (1899 \u2013 1992) was an Austrian-British economist and philosopher who is best known for his defence of classical liberalism. In 1974, Hayek shared a Nobel Prize for his work on economics.<\/p>\n
Friedrich Hayek has been referred to as \u201cthe most prodigious classical liberal scholar of the 20th century.\u201d His ideas and thoughts of liberty are a cornerstone of our understanding of what it means to be free.<\/p>\n
Friedrich Hayek observed \u201cunless we can make the philosophic foundation of a free society once more a living intellectual issue, and its implementation a task which challenges the ingenuity and imagination of our liveliest minds, the prospects of freedom are indeed dark.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Here are F.A. Hayek\u2019s bons mots on liberty and freedom.<\/p>\n \u201cA society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCoercion is evil precisely because it\u2026eliminates an individual as a thinking and valuing person and makes him a bare tool in the achievement of the ends of another.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe argument for liberty is\u2026an argument\u2026against the use of coercion to prevent others from doing better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndividual liberty\u2026demonstrate[s] that some manners of living are more successful than others.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is always from a minority acting in ways different from what the majority would prescribe that the majority in the end learns to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLiberty not only means that the individual has both the opportunity and the burden of choice; it also means that he must bear the consequences\u2026Liberty and responsibility are inseparable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLiberty is not merely one particular value\u2026it is the source and condition of most moral values. What a free society offers to the individual is much more than what he would be able to do if only he were free.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll political theories assume\u2026that most individuals are very ignorant. Those who plead for liberty differ\u2026in that they include among the ignorant themselves as well as the wisest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe individualist\u2026recognizes the limitations of the powers of individual reason and consequently advocates freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOnce wide coercive powers are given to government agencies\u2026such powers cannot be effectively controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe chief evil is unlimited government\u2026nobody is qualified to wield unlimited power.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEconomic control\u2026is the control of the means for all our ends. And whoever has control of the means must also determine which ends are to be served.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe case for individual freedom rests largely upon the recognition of the inevitable and universal ignorance of all of us concerning a great many of the factors on which the achievements of our ends and welfare depend.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe system of private property is the most important guarantee of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no justification for the belief that, so long as power is conferred by democratic procedure, it cannot be arbitrary\u2026it is not the source but the limitation of power which prevents it from being arbitrary.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEquality of the general rules of law and conduct\u2026is the only kind of equality conducive to liberty and the only equality which we can secure without destroying liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnder the Rule of Law\u2026the individual is free to pursue his personal ends and desires, certain that the powers of government will not be used deliberately to frustrate his efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris George<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of\u00a0CG&A COMMUNICATIONS<\/a>. Contact:\u00a0ChrisG.George@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Friedrich August von (F.A.) Hayek (1899 \u2013 1992) was an Austrian-British economist and philosopher who is best known for his defence of classical liberalism. In 1974, Hayek shared a Nobel Prize for his work on economics. Friedrich Hayek has been referred to as \u201cthe most prodigious classical liberal scholar of the 20th century.\u201d His ideas…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13447"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13452,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13447\/revisions\/13452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bygeorgejournal.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}