Friedrich Hayek Quotes
Few are ready to recognize that the rise of fascism and Nazism was not a reaction against the socialist trends of the preceding period but a necessary outcome of those tendencies.
Hayek, Friedrich A. The Road to Serfdom. University of Chicago Press, 1944, p. 3.
In 1918 the Treaty of Versailles—peace treaty ending WWI—was signed. Many Germans felt that their defeat in WWI forced them to sign the treaty which weakened Germany and assured that they would be a 2nd rate power thereafter. After that Germans blamed every negative aspect of their government, economy and society on the treaty that was “forced” on them. Nazism was a consequence of these feelings, and the Nazis adopted policies and practices to get around their anti-military obligations and have a strong government so that the allies could not enforce the treaty obligations on Germany.
The Russian troops had surrounded Berlin and were closing on the bunker. Hitler announced that he intended to commit suicide. 8 days later he did.
At the time Ford was considering running for President and some of the American right wing extremists were encouraging him to do so. Hitler had demonstrated how his fascist storm troopers would intimidate a major city as he had done it first in Munich and later in most other German cities. At the time, Ford and his supporters were delighted to have the support of such an important modern world leader as Hitler. The American Nazi Party's first president, Heinz Spanknoebel, was an employee at the Ford Motor Company. Fritz Julius Kuhn, leader of the pro-Nazi German-American Bund, worked at Ford off and on. As Hitler’s practices and policies were more and more exposed, and WWII began, this quotation made any political role for Henry Ford very difficult. Ford was the only American named in Hitler’s maniacal book Mein Kampf. He describes Ford as the only American who is not controlled by Hitler’s paranoid view of the Jewish conspiracy. Ford himself was an anti-Semite. See related quotes. Hitler awarded Ford the German Eagle Order Medal—the only American to have ever received it. It was reserved for those who assisted the Nazi Party outside of Germany. Benito Mussolini was another recipient.
Within a few years the National Socialists of Germany had invaded most of the countries of Europe. The protestations of non aggressive intent have historically meant nothing whether it was the promises of Napoleon, Hitler or that of Hamas.
Many notables of the left and the right supported Mussolini in his early political days. Virtually all of the worst dictators were welcomed by many when they first appeared on the scene. Human nature seems to have us all looking for exceptional leaders and statesmen and that is exactly what the dictator relies upon to acquire power, By the time most recognize the truth, the dictator has control of all the levers of compulsion. Many Americans were fooled just as the Europeans were. For others, see {623202}. {623200} and {623201}.
Friedrich August von Hayek CH FBA, often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian-British economist and philosopher who is best known for his defence of classical liberalism. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Gunnar Myrdal for his "pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and [...] penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena". His account of how changing prices communicate information that helps individuals co-ordinate their plans is widely regarded as an important achievement in economics, leading to his Nobel Prize.
