We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage. What we lack is a liberal* Utopia, a programme which seems neither a mere defence of things as they are nor a diluted kind of socialism, but a truly liberal radicalism which does not spare the susceptibilities of the mighty (including the trade unions), which is not too severely practical and which does not confine itself to what appears today as politically possible. Those who have concerned themselves exclusively with what seemed practicable in the existing state of opinion have constantly found that even this has rapidly become politically impossible as the result of changes in a public opinion which they have done nothing to guide. Unless we can make the philosophic foundations of a free society once more a living intellectual issue, and its implementation a task which challenges the ingenuity and imagination of our liveliest minds, the prospects of freedom are indeed dark. But if we can regain that belief in power of ideas which was the mark of liberalism at its best, the battle is not lost.
Dell, Jim (2011-05-13). Memorable Quotations from Friedrich August Hayek (Kindle Locations 32-39). Jim Dell. Kindle Edition. [Emphasis added.]
* Liberal, here, is used in its classical sense—as it is still used in Europe for the most part.
The god of pragmatism has become the downfall of the
Republican Party (
GOP). It is no longer the party believing in the power of great ideas (like limited government, personal
liberty and sound
monetary policy), while the ideology of the Left is making constant, incremental progress towards its ends.
