New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
Oct 3, 2010 at 4:41am
Not a parody, I don't think! The reporter's wonderment at the popularity of someone so, you know, dead is priceless, but actually, this has to be the most encouraging piece of reporting I've seen in a long time.
Doug Bramley, a postal worker and Tea Party activist in Maine, picked up “The Road to Serfdom” after Mr. Beck mentioned it on air in June. (Next up for Mr. Bramley, another classic of libertarian thought: “I’ve got to read ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ ” he said.) He found Hayek “dense reading,” but he loved “The 5000 Year Leap.”
“You don’t read it,” Mr. Bramley said, “you study it.”
Across the country, many Tea Party groups are doing just that, often taking a chapter to discuss at each meeting.
Could any image be more heartening?
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May '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
I knew it was serious when my apolitical sister signed up for a course on the Constitution. She was, both demographically and temperamentally, a swing voter, largely uninterested in politics. I used her to check popular opinion on stuff, because she was so spectacularly mainstream.
Jul '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
"But when it comes to ideology, it has reached back to dusty bookshelves for long-dormant ideas."
"It spins the Constitution in a way most legal scholars would not recognize — even those who embrace an “originalist” interpretation."
She sounds like an American version of Mustafa Akyol, coincidentally...
Jun '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
Sadly, Hayek is tough for a generation of Americans who do not understand the level of control governments can assume in one's life and have been raised by educators to think of better and best political systems, never bad. To understand Hayek I think there is a requirement of believing that evil can come from government.
Sep '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
Don't stop with Rand, Skousen, and Hayek. Read Jaffa, Lincoln, Jefferson, Locke, etc. We in America are uneducated when it comes to the issues that led to our independence and the political philosophy that informed the Founding Fathers. Say of Beck what you like, at least he is getting people to read and self-educate.
May '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
Three quick points that jump out at me in this piece:
1. I always enjoy the NYT's use of ad hominem attacks in their news pieces. Bastiat, a supporter of the John Birch society, etc. I've never heard the right to choose an abortion linked to eugenics or the New Deal linked to concentration camps for Japanese-Americans in the pages of any newspaper.
2. Where is the mind-numbing repetition of the fact that Hayek won the Noble Prize in Economics? The article was actually discussing Hayek's economics and ridiculing it as some obscure, radical ideology! No hack job attack piece by Paul Krugman against Republicans go can a paragraph without the Noble Prize reminder.
3. Could the writer sound more ignorant?
May '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
Hayek is an excellent supplement to von Mises and Rothbard, particularly when it comes to economics. Good to know these names are getting some exposure.
Sep '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
Hayek clearly states that his position should not be confused with “ a dogmatic laissez faire attitude”. Milton Friedman in his intro to the 50th anniversary edition terms the book “timeless" and characterizes Hayek’s theme as “the conflict between central planning and individual liberty.” Hayek never said or implied what the author accuses him of. It is encouraging to see so many are reading this book even if the author of the article did not take time to do so.
Sep '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
Thanks for reminding me of Hayek. You've motivated me to take out my 1944 edition to re-read.Truth be told, it was a bit dusty on my bookshelf.
It's been a while since I read this, but it does not strike me as an especially hard for Americans to understand now. Government control is all around us; people should have plenty of experience with that in the present. Reagan reminded us that evil can come from government, and are being reminded anew.
Oct '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
If I remember correctly, The Road to Serfdom was number one on Amazon this summer. If I had to get someone to read only one book about economics this would be it. I found that rather than seeming dated, the fact that the history of the times illustrated his thesis made it much more stark and undeniable. Although Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson is also a favourite, explaining in no uncertain terms that there is no free lunch.
Jun '10
Re: New York Times Discovers Really Obscure Dead Guy Named Hayek
The Road to Serfdom is about politics. Economics in one lesson is about economics. A Confict of Visions is about mindset. They are the triumvirate of "wake up out of your liberal dream - you are punching me in your sleep!" book recommendations.