It would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that the greatest danger to liberty today comes from the men who are most needed and most powerful in modern government, namely, the efficient expert administrators exclusively concerned with what they regards as the public good.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Hayek warns that efficient expert administrators focused on public good pose the greatest danger to liberty today.
- In plain terms
- Efficient government experts who want public good are the biggest threat to freedom today.
- What can you take from it?
- Benevolent expertise can become a threat to liberty when unchecked.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does expertise become a threat to freedom?
- Can experts serve the public without harming liberty?
Another view
Experts often provide necessary coordination that individuals cannot achieve alone.
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The chief evil is unlimited government, and nobody is qualified to wield unlimited power.
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