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I can't think of Hayek without being reminded of his claim that personal freedom in Pinochet's torture state was greater than that under the previous government where people were not getting their eyeballs pulled out and genitals shocked for disagreeing with the State.

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I really Hayek fan and I agree that he was wrong here.

Allende was not as socialistic and not as much in control as Hayek thought. Since WW2 Hayek had a huge fear of democratic socialism turning into what we would now call stalisim.

This fear never really came to pass because there is to much vested interest in the markets, thus the change happens slowly. Most democratic countries realize that they have gone to far, and then go back.

Hayek is an interesting figure. He was a total knob, especially to Marxists and other such lefty economic thinkers. But he did so much interesting work that he's worth reading even for people who think he's a reactionary. It's unlike the case with a lot of other liberal/reactionary knobs who are easily ignored if you reject classical/neoclassical economics any anything right of that.

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