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The Road to Serfdom vs. Omnipotent Government

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The Road to Serfdom vs. Omnipotent Government

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fegeldolfy Posted: Sat, Dec 1 2012 1:56 PM

I've heard that Hayek's The Road to Serfdom and Mises's Omnipotent Government are quite similar.

A few questions:

1.Is this true?

2.Which one do you like better?

3.Which one do you think should be read first?

4.What are some of the differences?

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Anenome replied on Sat, Dec 1 2012 2:18 PM

Never heard of OG. I do recommend RtS generally.

Autarchy: rule of the self by the self; the act of self ruling.
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Minarchist replied on Sat, Dec 1 2012 5:56 PM

I've read Omnipotent Government (thanks LvMI!), and I recommend it very highly, but I've actually never read the far more famous Road to Serfdom.

apiarius delendus est, ursus esuriens continendus est
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gotlucky replied on Sat, Dec 1 2012 10:30 PM

I've only read about half of The Road to Serfdom. I thought it was really boring, and I think there were a few others on this board that thought the same thing. I'm sure plenty loved it too. I haven't read Omnipotent Government.

LibertyHQ and its awesome forum.
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fegeldolfy replied on Sun, Dec 2 2012 1:52 PM

Well I just nearly fell asleep reading the first five pages of The Road to Serfdom. Wow that's boring.

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Raoul replied on Sun, Dec 2 2012 2:31 PM

I too found The Road to Serfdom very boring. Nevertheless, it is said this book had a great influence on the general opinion of the "intellectuals" when it was published. 

Not a native speaker - you may correct my spelling errors.
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Anenome replied on Sun, Dec 2 2012 6:12 PM

I guess it gets better then. I read it years ago and can't remember being bored by it.

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fegeldolfy replied on Sun, Dec 2 2012 6:21 PM

In Hayek's defense, I was already tired when I started reading it. I still remember it as being boring and dense,though.

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