The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Publisher’s Preface to the Liberty Fund Edition
• Foreword By F.a. Hayek
• Preface to the Second English Edition
• Translator’s Note
• Preface to the Second German Edition
• Introduction
• Part I: Liberalism and Socialism
• Chapter 1: Ownership
• 1: The Nature of Ownership
• 2: Violence and Contract
• 3: The Theory of Violence and the Theory of Contract
• 4: Collective Ownership of the Means of Production
• 5: Theories of the Evolution of Property
• Chapter 2: Socialism
• 1: The State and Economic Activity
• 2: The “fundamental Rights” of Socialist Theory
• 3: Collectivism and Socialism
• Chapter 3: The Social Order and the Political Constitution
• 1: The Policy of Violence and the Policy of Contract
• 2: The Social Function of Democracy
• 3: The Ideal of Equality
• 4: Democracy and Social-democracy
• 5: The Political Constitution of Socialist Communities
• Chapter 4: The Social Order and the Family
• 1: Socialism and the Sexual Problem
• 2: Man and Woman In the Age of Violence
• 3: Marriage Under the Influence of the Idea of Contract
• 4: The Problems of Married Life
• 5: Free Love
• 6: Prostitution
• Part II: The Economics of a Socialist Community
• Section I.: The Economics of an Isolated Socialist Community
• Chapter 5: The Nature of Economic Activity
• 1: A Contribution to the Critique of the Concept “economic Activity”
• 2: Rational Action
• 3: Economic Calculation
• 4: The Capitalist Economy
• 5: The Narrower Concept of the “economic”
• Chapter 6: The Organization of Production Under Socialism
• 1: The Socialization of the Means of Production
• 2: Economic Calculation In the Socialist Community
• 3: Recent Socialist Doctrines and the Problems of Economic Calculation
• 4: The Artificial Market As the Solution of the Problem of Economic Calculation
• 5: Profitability and Productivity
• 6: Gross and Net Product
• Chapter 7: The Distribution of Income
• 1: The Nature of Distribution Under Liberalism and Socialism
• 2: The Social Dividend
• 3: The Principles of Distribution
• 4: The Process of Distribution
• 5: The Costs of Distribution
• Chapter 8: The Socialist Community Under Stationary Conditions
• 1: Stationary Conditions
• 2: The Disutilities and Satisfactions of Labour
• 3: The “joy of Labour”
• 4: The Stimulus to Labour
• 5: The Productivity of Labour
• Chapter 9: The Position of the Individual Under Socialism
• 1: Selection of Personnel and Choice of Occupation
• 2: Art and Literature, Science and Journalism
• 3: Personal Liberty
• Chapter 10: Socialism Under Dynamic Conditions
• 1: The Nature of the Dynamic Forces
• 2: Changes In Population
• 3: Changes In Demand
• 4: Changes In the Amount of Capital
• 5: The Element of Change In the Socialist Economy
• 6: Speculation
• 7: Joint Stock Companies and the Socialist Economy
• Chapter 11: The Impracticability of Socialism
• 1: The Fundamental Problems of a Socialist Economy Under Conditions of Change
• 2: Attempted Solutions
• 3: Capitalism the Only Solution
• Section II.: The Foreign Relations of a Socialist Community
• Chapter 12: National Socialism and World Socialism
• 1: The Spatial Extent of the Socialist Community
• 2: Marxian Treatment of This Problem
• 3: Liberalism and the Problem of the Frontiers
• Chapter 13: The Problem of Migration Under Socialism
• 1: Migration and Differences In National Conditions
• 2: The Tendency Towards Decentralization Under Socialism
• Chapter 14: Foreign Trade Under Socialism
• 1: Autarky and Socialism
• 2: Foreign Trade Under Socialism
• 3: Foreign Investment
• Section III.: Particular Forms of Socialism and Pseudo-socialism
• Chapter 15: Particular Forms of Socialism
• 1: The Nature of Socialism
• 2: State Socialism
• 3: Military Socialism
• 4: Christian Socialism
• 5: The Planned Economy
• 6: Guild Socialism
• Chapter 16: Pseudo-socialist Systems
• 1: Solidarism
• 2: Various Proposals For Expropriation
• 3: Profit-sharing
• 4: Syndicalism
• 5: Partial Socialism
• Part III: The Alleged Inevitability of Socialism
• Section I.: Social Evolution
• Chapter 17: Socialistic Chiliasm
• 1: The Origin of Chiliasm
• 2: Chiliasm and Social Theory
• Chapter 18: Society
• 1: The Nature of Society
• 2: The Division of Labour As the Principle of Social Development
• 3: Organism and Organization
• 4: The Individual and Society
• 5: The Development of the Division of Labour
• 6: Changes In the Individual In Society
• 7: Social Regression
• 8: Private Property and Social Evolution
• Chapter 19: Conflict As a Factor In Social Evolution
• 1: The Cause of Social Evolution
• 2: Darwinism
• 3: Conflict and Competition
• 4: National War
• 5: Racial War
• Chapter 20: The Clash of Class Interests and the Class War
• 1: The Concept of Class and of Class Conflict
• 2: Estates and Classes
• 3: Class War
• 4: The Forms of Class War
• 5: Class War As a Factor In Social Evolution
• 6: The Theory of the Class War and the Interpretation of History
• 7: Summary
• Chapter 21: The Materialist Conception of History
• 1: Thought and Being
• 2: Science and Socialism
• 3: The Psychological Presuppositions of Socialism
• Section II.: The Concentration of Capital and the Formation of Monopolies As Preliminary Steps to Socialism
• Chapter 22: The Problem
• 1: The Marxian Theory of Concentration
• 2: The Theory of Anti-monopolistic Policy
• Chapter 23: The Concentration of Establishments
• 1: The Concentration of Establishments As the Complement of the Division of Labour
• 2: The Optimal Size of Establishments In Primary Production and In Transport
• 3: The Optimal Size of Establishments In Manufacturing
• Chapter 24: The Concentration of Enterprises
• 1: The Horizontal Concentration of Enterprises
• 2: The Vertical Concentration of Enterprises
• Chapter 25: The Concentration of Fortunes
• 1: The Problem
• 2: The Foundation of Fortunes Outside the Market Economy
• 3: The Formation of Fortunes Within the Market Economy
• 4: The Theory of Increasing Poverty
• Chapter 26: Monopoly and Its Effects
• 1: The Nature of Monopoly and Its Significance For the Formation of Prices
• 2: The Economic Effects of Isolated Monopolies
• 3: The Limits of Monopoly Formation
• 4: The Significance of Monopoly In Primary Production
• Part IV: Socialism As a Moral Imperative
• Chapter 27: Socialism and Ethics
• 1: The Socialist Attitude to Ethics
• 2: Eudaemonistic Ethics and Socialism
• 3: A Contribution to the Understanding of Eudaemonism
• Chapter 28: Socialism As an Emanation of Asceticism
• 1: The Ascetic Point of View
• 2: Asceticism and Socialism
• Chapter 29: Christianity and Socialism
• 1: Religion and Social Ethics
• 2: The Gospels As a Source of Christian Ethics
• 3: Primitive Christianity and Society
• 4: The Canon Law Prohibition of Interest
• 5: Christianity and Property
• 6: Christian Socialism
• Chapter 30: Ethical Socialism, Especially That of the New Criticism
• 1: The Categorical Imperative As a Foundation For Socialism
• 2: The Duty of Work As a Foundation For Socialism
• 3: The Equality of Incomes As an Ethical Postulate
• 4: The Ethical-aesthetic Condemnation of the Profit-motive
• 5: The Cultural Achievements of Capitalism
• Chapter 31: Economic Democracy
• 1: The Slogan “economic Democracy”
• 2: The Consumer As the Deciding Factor In Production
• 3: Socialism As Expression of the Will of the Majority
• Chapter 32: Capitalist Ethics
• 1: Capitalist Ethics and the Impracticability of Socialism
• 2: The Alleged Defects of Capitalist Ethics
• Part V: Destructionism
• Chapter 33: The Motive Powers of Destructionism
• 1: The Nature of Destructionism
• 2: Demagogy
• 3: The Destructionism of the Literati
• Chapter 34: The Methods of Destructionism
• 1: The Means of Destructionism
• 2: Labour Legislation
• 3: Compulsory Social Insurance
• 4: Trade Unions
• 5: Unemployment Insurance
• 6: Socialization
• 7: Taxation
• 8: Inflation
• 9: Marxism and Destructionism
• Chapter 35: Overcoming Destructionism
• 1: The “interest” As an Obstacle to Destructionism
• 2: Violence and Authority
• 3: The Battle of Ideas
• Conclusion the Historical Significance of Modern Socialism
• 1: Socialism In History
• 2: The Crisis of Civilization
• Appendix a Contribution to the Critique of Attempts to Construct a System of Economic Calculation For the Socialist Community
• Epilogue
• Introductory Remarks
• 1: The Failure of Interventionism
• 2: The Dictatorial, Anti-democratic and Socialist Character of Interventionism
• 3: Socialism and Communism
• 4: Russia’s Aggressiveness
• 5: Trotsky’s Heresy
• 6: The Liberation of the Demons
• 7: Fascism
• 8: Nazism
• 9: The Teachings of Soviet Experience
• 10: The Alleged Invitability of Socialism
• Biographical Note

9

Marxism and Destructionism

Socialism has not consciously willed the destruction of society. It believed it was creating a higher form of society. But since a socialist society is not a possibility every step towards it must harm society.

It is the history of Marxian Socialism which shows most clearly that every socialist policy must turn into destructionism. Marxism described Capitalism as the inevitable preliminary to Socialism, and looked forward to the new society only as the result of Capitalism’s fruition. If we take our stand on this part of Marx’s theory—it is true that he has put forward other theories with which this is completely incompatible—then the policy of all the parties that claim Marx’s authority is quite non-Marxian. The Marxians ought to have combated everything that could in any way hinder the development of Capitalism. They should have protested against the trade unions and their methods, against laws protecting labour, against compulsory social insurance, against the taxation of property; they should have fought laws hindering the full working of the stock and produce exchanges, the fixation of prices, the policy which proceeds against cartels and trusts; they should have resisted inflationism. But they have done the reverse of all this, have been content to repeat Marx’s condemnation of the “petty bourgeois” policy, without however drawing the inevitable conclusions. The Marxians who, in the beginning, wished to dissociate themselves definitely from the policy of all parties looking to the pre-capitalist economic idea, arrived in the end at exactly the same point of view.

The fight between Marxists and the parties calling themselves emphatically anti-Marxists is carried on by both sides with such a violence of expression that one might easily be led into supposing them irreconcilable. But this is by no means the case. Both parties, Marxism and National Socialism, agree in opposing Liberalism and rejecting the capitalist social order. Both desire a socialist order of society. The only difference in their programme lies in slight variations in their respective pictures of the future socialist State; nonessential variations, as we could easily show. The foremost demands of the National Socialist agitation are different from those of the Marxists. While the Marxists speak of abolishing the commodity character of labour, the National Socialists speak of breaking the slavery of interest (Brechung der Zinsknechtschaft). While the Marxists hold the “capitalists” responsible for every evil, the National Socialists think to express themselves more concretely by shouting “Death to the Jews” (Juda verrecke).29

Marxism, National Socialism, and other anti-capitalist parties are indeed separated, not only by clique enmities, and personal resentments, but also by problems of metaphysics and the conduct of life. But they all agree on the decisive problem of reshaping the social order: they reject private ownership in the means of production and desire a socialist order of society. It is true that the paths by which they hope to reach the common goal run parallel only for short stretches, but even where they diverge they remain on adjacent territories.

It is not surprising that in spite of this close relationship they fight out their feud with consuming bitterness. In a socialist community the fate of the political minorities would necessarily become unbearable. How would National Socialists fare under a Bolshevist rule or Bolshevists under National Socialism?

CHAPTER 35

Overcoming Destructionism

[29. ]For a criticism of National Socialist doctrine see my Kritik des Interventionismus (Jena, 1929), pp. 91 ff.; also Karl Wagner, “Brechung der Zinsknechtschaft?” in Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, Third Series, Vol. LXXIX, pp. 790 ff. Publisher’s Note: In the English edition of Kritik des Interventionismus, p. 107.