The History of Socialism

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The real history of socialism is more like this. The purists, the true believers, they're the ones who became the true monsters. They admitted that capitalism was a lot better than the founders of the movement could have ever have tolerated. Brian Kaplan: Who are the true descendants of the 19th century German social democratic party? Are they the people ruling East Germany or are they the social democrats trying to reinvent themselves and gain power in West Germany?

Bryan Caplan of George Mason University and blogger at EconLog talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about two books: Eugene Richter's Pictures of the Socialistic Future and F. A. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom. Both books warn against the dangers of socialism. Pictures of a Socialistic Future, published in 1891 is a dystopian novel imagining what life would be like after a socialist revolution. The Road to Serfdom, published in 1944, explores the links between economic freedom and political freedom and the inherent similarities between communism and fascism. Both books look at the German roots of centralized planning and the nature of the people who rise to power when the State is powerful. The conversation includes discussion of the these topics as well as the rule of law and the amount of state control of the economy in Nazi Germany.