[PEN-L:1785] Re: More Polanyi vs. Hayek

["Huseyin Ozel" <OZEL@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Devine wrote:


> As much as I dislike Hayekian politics, I think it's confusing
> matters to call them "fascist" as Huseyin Ozel does. Hayekian
> politics may push us in the direction of an "objectively fascist"
> system, i.e., strengthen the power of the state, repressing
> organized labor, etc. (It need not go all the way; I wouldn't
> call Thatcherism "fascism.") But in terms of its explicit ideas,
> Hayekism advocates 19th century liberal ideas of individual
> freedom and all that. I think it's more useful to point to the
> contradiction between intentions and results than to waste the
> word "fascism."


I had no intention to call Hayek, or Thatcher for that matter,
"fascist". As a matter of fact, I too hate the overuse of the word
"fascism". But what I was trying to say that fascism, in
whatever form, might still be a "solution" for capitalism to
function; as Polanyi, in *The Great Transformation* says: "Fascism,
like socialism, was rooted in a market society that refused to
function." (p. 239) I think this is one of the messages of Polanyi
which is still relevant.

Sorry for the confusion.

Regards,

Huseyin Ozel