Hayek tells us ” Hitler did not have to destroy democracy; he merely took advantage of the decay of democracy and at the critical moment obtained the support of many to whom, though they detested Hitler, he yet seemed the only man strong enough to get things done”.   It seems that even today, we use this statement with modern politicians in similar fashions.  “He is the only Republican that can get elected”, “we need someone who can shake up the system”, or yes “we need someone strong enough to bring this country together”. There is so much to unpack here that it could fill volumes of books.  My focus in this episode is an attempt to bring us back to the basics. Back to the rule of law.

 

I’ve decided in recent months to try to avoid discussing current issues so as not to get lost in the weeds on arguments or points that aren’t “principles”.  I’ll try to stay true to this here. I see in the current political climate a “team sport” mentality.  I have been just as guilty as the next guy supporting or not supporting something because the guy on my side of the aisle is touting it.  Usually it’s even less than some congressional act.  The talking head on Fox News supporting the “republican” side of the story is the “good” guy and the other guy is the “bad” guy.  This intellectual trap ultimately was the primer to me reading and thinking deeper on issues.  When I realized I was a “useful” idiot with a degree on the wall, it was embarrassing.  I may still agree with the republican a majority of the time, but I can do it without knowing who is the Republican and who is the Democrat, and I can articulate why I agree with him. While, I’d like you to agree with me, I’d be satisfied with clarity in our disagreement rather than personal attacks or simply refusing to argue. The “team sport” mentality today is dangerously close to win at all costs.  This of course misses the low hanging fruit of “my guy isn’t going to be in charge forever”.  It clearly misses that fact that power continues to rise to the top and that is a bad thing.

Economic planning, socialism, or whatever you wish to call it lives and dies by changing the rules to pick winners. Democracy is a challenge to the planner. We must “agree” on everything for the planner to work his plan.  He must be able to make decisions at anytime anywhere.  Remember the all knowing, all present, and decision making planner of previous episodes?  The puppet master dictating the economy, of course can’t achieve this omniscient and omnipresent existence.  That would make him God. He, of course is not God.  So instead he becomes a “democratic dictator” and will ultimately destroy freedom.  He must have arbitrary powers.  He can’t be bound to a set rule of law or he won’t be able to make quick decisions.  Sounds a bit like Executive Orders, but that is for another discussion. Planning ultimately, and in a tiny step by step fashion will ultimately lead to dictatorship.  Dictatorship, after all, is the most effective way of coercion and enforcement of ideals.  Planning (AKA socialism) is nothing more that an enforcement of ideals. Inevitably we will all agree with some of the “ideals” and disagree with many others. Special interests will continue to nip at the heels of the planner in order to have their “ideals” enforced.

Where does the rule of law play into all this?  It is actually everywhere.  It is the fabric of our society.  In my podcast episode, I use a baseball game as an analogy to living by a set of rules. If the rules of the game are changed in the middle of the game to benefit one team over the other, eventually the teams will stop showing up to play.  When this happens in an economy,