Socialism and Self-Delusion

Our brains might be predisposed to be suspicious of capitalism, but we should not ignore the role played by self-delusion in paving the way for a future return of socialism.

by Marian Tupy
June 1, 2016

Albert Einstein is supposed to have defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Yet, as the economic implosion of Venezuela reminds us, we seem to be unable to stop repeating the same terrible mistake: trying to make socialism work.

To explain our insane fascination with socialism, I have pointed to a growing body of academic research, which suggests that we are, by nature, envious of and resentful toward people who amass “disproportionate” wealth and power.

Moreover, research suggests that we find it difficult to comprehend, let alone appreciate, what Friedrich Hayek called extended order – or the use of specialization and trade to create “an information gathering process, able to call up, and put to use, widely dispersed information that no central planning agency, let alone any individual, could know as a whole, possess or control”.

Our minds have evolved to deal with issues faced by our hunting and gatherin…