The Left Takes Note of Hayek

The socialist publication In These Times runs  Christian Parenti on Hayek: Winning the War of Ideas (October 17, 2003): “For Hayek, liberals—by which he meant followers of classical free-market economics—had to avoid anti-intellectualism, pragmatism and short-term struggles. Calling for utopian thinking, radical positions and a long-term strategy, Hayek urged liberals to imitate socialists. And that advice, in many ways, launched the modern Anglo-American New Right.... Hayek invites us to reconsider the role of ideas and the long-term timeframe of their impact. He reminds us that having a clear intellectual program and thinking—which in our case should be done by everybody, not only specialists—is not a luxury but a necessity. He reminds us that today’s political struggles, while essential, usually offer only a narrow range of outcomes. Short-term struggles are massively important, but we will lose most of these fights, and thus must ask ourselves what lasting, ideological or intellectual impact such lost fights can and should deliver.”