The road from serfdom: F.A. Hayek spent years in the wilderness for arguing that socialism was the road, not to prosperity and justice, but to tyranny

National Review, April 27, 1992 by John Gray, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Ralph Harris, Milton Friedman, William F. Buckley, Jr.

Professor Hayek gave perhaps the greatest example of his intellectual courage when, in his great book on liberty, he girded his loins, kissed his wife goodbye, made out his will, and came out against the progressive income tax. That was both audacious and exhilarating; and indeed if ever his counsel on the matter were accepted, I have no doubt whatever that any society would benefit comprehensively, and that the tuning fork of justice would resonate with the joy of bells in the morning.

But on the one occasion when he spoke of a "liberal utopia" I doubt that (for once) he weighed his words as cautiously as he tended to do. Without the progressive tax we would be left, for instance, without any guide to how the liberated taxpayer should spend his repatriated surplus; I know of nothing in libertarian literature that is instructive on the point. There is a great and brooding literature that is highly instructive on such moral matters, but it is a literature that speaks with authority to a world endowed with free will. We don't need to be reminded (or do we?) that heaven is not for this, but for another, world; and that final satisfactions are taken from adventures in faith, hope, and charity unrelated to the marketplace. In that other world, I do not hesitate to predict that Friedrich von Hayek will be praised for his contributions to a social philosophy that reflects the dignity of metaphysical man.

Four months ago, Professor Hayek was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony in the White House. His citation says it all: "Friedrich August von Hayek has done more than any thinker of our age to explore the promise and contours of liberty. He grew up in the shadow of Hitler's tyranny and devoted himself at an early age to the nurture of institutions that preserve and expand freedom, the lifeblood of a full life. The Road to Serfdom still thrills readers everywhere, and his subsequent works inspire people throughout the world because they possess the vigor and feel of real life --not just the hollow ring of abstract theory. Professor von Hayek has revolutionized the world's intellectual and political life. Future generations will read his works with the same sense of discovery and awe that inspire us today."

Mr. Gray is a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and author of Hayek on Liberty. He wrote this essay during a period of residence as Stranahan Distinguished Research Fellow at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Bowling Green, Ohio.