Planning and Democracy

It is the price of democracy that the possibilities of conscious control are restricted to the fields where true agreement exists and that in some fields things must be left to chance. But in a society which for its functioning depends on central planning this control cannot be made dependent on a majority's being able to agree; it will often be necessary that the will of a small minority be imposed upon the people, because this minority will be the largest group able to agree among themselves on the question at issue. Democratic government has worked successfully where, and so long as, the functions of government were, by a widely accepted creed, restricted to fields where agreement among a majority could be achieved by free discussion; and it is the great merit of the liberal creed that it reduced the range of subjects on which agreement was necessary to one on which it was likely to exist in a society of free men. It is now often said that democracy will not tolerate "capitalism." If "capitalism" means here a competetive system based on free disposal over private property, it is far more important to realize that only within this system is democracy possible. When it becomes dominated by a collectivist creed, democracy will inevitably destroy itself.

F.A. Hayek, The Road To Serfdom

For visitors and regulars who are unfamiliar with Hayek or unread in political philosophy the term, liberal, as he uses it, refers to classical eighteenth century liberalism. This creed is known in the modern U.S. as libertarianism and has nothing to do with American liberalism which is nothing more than socialism. It is the creed of John Locke and others, including the American Constitutional founders.