It seems an opportune moment, with the United States poised to declare victory in the Second Gulf War, to review this little classic.

Hayek famously declared that his 'Road to Serfdom' was dedicated to socialists of all parties as he warned against the dangers of totalitarian rule for liberal(I use the word advisedly) democracies.

This pamphlet is a reprint of an 1949 essay of Hayek wherein he pursued the dictum of Keynes' contained with the 'General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money' about the influence of ideas.

In the essay Hayek questions the view that intellectuals are original thinkers. For him, original thinkers are few and far between but their ideas and views are percolated through society by the intellectuals. Those 'second-hand dealers in ideas' as Hayek referred to them are not necessarily the greatest scholars or the most brilliant minds but are adept at taking ideas and regurgitating them as teachers or journalists or through some other profession such that they pass through to the general public. Hayek contends that intelligent people consider intelligence to be more important than it is and in the world of men and thus tends to be more socialist orientated as those people view the market with disdain. He recognises that the market is a fundamental part of establishing value through individuals participating in a trial and error system of exchange which the intelligensia overlook but which directly affects them anyway. For Hayek, the battle of ideas was to be won, not by the original thinkers, but by the spread of classical liberal ideas by the class of intellectuals who could be convinced of the power of new, or perhaps not so new, ideas.

As Edwin Feulner, one of the editors, remarks, this article was a clarion call to those who espoused a classical liberal standpoint. Following on from this was the establishment of the free market think-tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs and other such institutions around the world. The story goes on to celebrate to some degree at least the success in bringing classical liberal ideas to the fore in many countries around the world and the success of some of those ideas.

So far, sort of, so good. A word of warning should be sounded. Whereas I agree with the aims of the paper I am circumspect about the current situation. To me there is more to classical liberal ideas than just a free economy. It does appear from my point of view that the battle of ideas is being won by neo-conservatives and authoritarians of all parties rather than by liberals. Others may disagree but the lesson I have taken from reading this marvellous little book again is that all who rally to the flag of Classical Liberalism need be extra vigilant in these uncertain times against the further development of neo-conservative and authoritarian ideas because they threaten not only the gains that have been made in the last fifty years but also many of the liberties we all cherish in our western democracies.

Liberals of the world, Unite!

Hayek wrote the original 'Road to Serfdom' which appeared in 1944 and which still, today, is a salutory reminder of the fate which awaits us should we put too much faith in the state under whichever political persuasion.

This little book, a reprint of the version which appeared in the Reader's Digest, deserves five stars for a number of reasons.

Firstly for the central message which it contains about the dangers of the collectivist state and the concentration of powers that such a state holds unto itself. Hayek dedicated his book to the socialists of all parties by which he meant that in all political parties, and indeed in the minds of many who hold no party affiliation, there are those who hold that the only way to achive a particular end is through the power of the state. He shows however, that the state which accumulates power eventually will turn that power onto the people and in the process dehumanizes those that wield power such that any revolting activity becomes justifiable. This book contains the central tenents of his arguments which are laid out in full in the unabridged version. Hayek abhors the development of the state in modern societies seeing the entity which is the state as a sort of evil empire and cautions people to be watchful and on their guard so that they maintain a healthy suspicion of the state and act to keep it from becoming too powerful. Yet, ironically, Hayek sees the tendency for such states to flourish in the so-called free societies of England and the United States. Here in New Jersey, earlier in 2002, the city of Morristown passed an ordinance which limits the number of pets which can be held in an individual household. Clearly the state intervenes too much in our lives already.

Secondly, the original Reader's Digest version, reflecting consumer demand, published this reprint at the front of it's magazine instead of at the end which was it's normal practice as well as exceeding it's normal print run many times over.

Thirdly, the editing down of the original to the condensed size is a marvel given that none of the essential essence of the original is not lost.

Hayek was originally writing in the face of the existing totalitarian regimes which existed in a number of European countries in the early 1940's and the growing strength and power of the USSR. He cautions the free nations of the West to beware the growth of the state and to fight against it. The book has a real contemporary relevance too with the world's attention being foccussed mainly on Iraq but also increasingly on the nations of Africa. Clearly the terrible and dramatic series of events unfolding in Zimbabwe are a horrific reminder of what can happen if the state and it's servants become too powerful.

For anyone believing in freedom this is a must read book.