Isaac Chan’s Reviews > The Road to Serfdom > Status Update

Note 8/n:
garner surface-level lip service by others, but ultimately receives no sympathy under capitalism.

Thus my point is that there is an interesting turn from Hayek's prediction: that even in the individualistic society we currently live in, practically useless activities are still not valued as highly as those that generate monetary value. In fact it is the cringey modern left, such as ...

Note 7/n:
wisdom now: hustling is a virtue, idleness is a vice. Grinding in the office until the late hours of the night to hit bigger milestones for one's company and one's own bank balance is an admirable quality; clocking out sharp to go home to play video games or collect stamps is a waste of time. Devoting more time to highbrow or culturally nourishing activities like painting or reading philosophy might ...

Note 6/n:
deprecate activities done for their own sake, activities that do not fit the higher ends of society, or the ends of the state. Now this is a prediction by Hayek that does not seem to conform with the outcome: it is clear to me that the received opinion of our late-stage capitalistic society is that anything done purely for leisure is a waste of time. The Protestant ethic seems to be the conventional ...

Note 5/n:
only power structures and class injustices, was Hayek's prediction unfolding right before my eyes. Hayek points to how even the intellectuals of his day were already trying to change the definition of 'liberal' - and we all know how an unstoppable force that has become, with 'liberal' today meaning a completely different thing from what Hayek meant by 'liberal'.

The totalitarian will next seek to ...

Note 4/n:
who pursues the objective truth ... thus the next step is to destroy the notion of truth itself.

Eerily, we are obviously already living in this state of affairs! The progressive left is now not only living in a post-modern world, but a post-truth one as well! This was MacIntyre's point, I believe. Destroying even the most basic definitions, like gender, because there is apparently no objective truth, ...

Note 3/n:
What is interesting though is the idea that this will lead to the end of truth. Hayek says that the totalitarian will first start by convincing the people that the new ideas he is implementing is just the same as the old, that nothing has changed ... but even that won't be enough, because although that can placate the masses, there will always be a minority of the population who thinks for themselves, ...

Note 2/n:
, etc. This necessary step by intellectuals who imagine themselves able to plan society is ancient - I agree with Hayek and Popper (and now I wonder whether Hayek influenced Popper in this regard) that Plato was 1 of the earliest intellectuals to plant the seed of the totalitarian philosopher-king, telling noble lies (but ofc, one must consider the real possibility that Plato was writing ironic fiction).

Note 1/n:
Chapter 11: The end of truth gives me much to think about. Hayek posits that in a centrally planned society [i.e. a totalitarian one (which is an extreme view that I don't necessarily agree with)] , due to the inherent impossibility in finding a society-wide hierarchy of values, the totalitarian must necessarily resort to telling people WHAT to believe, controlling what kind of sources the people consume...

Note n/n:

I also find myself with little differentiated views to speak of. Most of my views are just the product of my society, the people I associate with, or rehashes of other thinkers.

Note 4/n:
obvious that most stupid people are conservative'. Mill does NOT say that most conservatives are stupid, he says that it is obvious that most stupid people are conservative. ii) Do the students and academics of our higher institutions have differentiated views today? It seems that they are overwhelmingly left-wing, progressive and anti-capitalist. iii) It obviously reminded me of Trump's base.