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Socialism has never and nowhere been at first a working-class movement. It is by no means an obvious remedy for the obvious evil which the interests of that class will necessarily demand. It is a construction of theorists, deriving from certain tendencies of abstract thought with which for a long time only the intellectuals were familiar; and it required long efforts by the intellectuals before the working classes could be persuaded to adopt it as their program.

Friedrich Hayek#1

PoliticsHistorySocialismClassIntellectuals

About this quote

What does it mean?
Socialism was created by intellectuals and pushed onto the working class, not born from their immediate interests.
In plain terms
Socialism was made by thinkers and given to workers.
What can you take from it?
Recognize that ideologies often come from theorists, not the masses.

Where it applies

  • political movements
  • ideological analysis
  • historical study

Putting it to work

  • study origins of ideas
  • question ideology adoption
  • analyze incentives

Questions to consider

  • Who benefits from a movement?
  • Where do ideas really come from?

Another view

Workers may indeed have legitimate grievances that lead to socialism.

More from Friedrich Hayek

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  2. 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 n…

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  3. If the human intellect is allowed to impose a preconceived pattern on society, if our powers of reasoning are allowed to lay claim to a monopoly of creative ef…

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