The main idea of “The Road to Serfdom” by Frederich Hayek is that in a planning society, one of which usually follows socialist or totalitarian government and economic styles, all freedom is removed from the individual. This circumstance occurs because the government is in control of almost every aspect of a person's life. In my opinion, I feel that this was the only argument the author had, he just reworded and over complicated it for about thirty pages. He writes that for leaders to achieve their goals they must have power over others, and concentration of their power for that goal will infinitely heighten their overall power. Hayek then makes a great point, that to decentralize power is to reduce the amount of absolute power, which I believe is absolutely true. This is the reason why we have a system of checks and balances in the United States to ensure that none of the branches abuse their power to advance their respective needs. The United States is a democratic republic, meaning that power is held by individuals and whoever they choose to elect, at the same time that all eligible members of the state govern themselves. This means that specific individuals represent the viewpoint of many to ensure that opposing viewpoints are equally heard. That is all good a nice, we have a fairly good handle on government regulation, but the issue of billionaire control comes up once again.
Hayek wrote about when economic power is centralized as an instrument for political power, dependence is almost like that of a slave. I would argue that we are becoming dependent on large multi-billion dollar corporations that are monopolizing their markets such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and Uber. The net worth of those five companies combined is over three trillion dollars, which is no small percentage of the national gross domestic product. And many of us are so dependent on at least one of these companies, that we have become enslaved to the products and services they provide. I would be willing to bet that the average modern citizen utilizes at least one of these companies on a daily basis. What does the college student do when Microsoft threatens to stop service if their user's beliefs do not align with that of the company? She will not be able to submit her essay on time and may fall under the governance of the company and its motives. What will the overworked businessman in Chicago do when Uber stops providing him service because he is black, homosexual, and a democrat? He will either miss his next meeting or have a complete alteration of personality and beliefs in order to utilize the services necessary for his lifestyle. The US government system has limited control over the individuals who wield such large amounts of money, and power. My main point here is that competition is great, it fuels innovation, allows for growth and development, and motivates future generations to keep the nation moving forward. However, when an industry is monopolized, the richest company has ultimate power. The knowledge and success created through competition have lost their value, because individuals under the monopoly will lose their sense of power over their own fate. Hayek wrote that planning and competition can only be combined by planning for competition, not planning against competition. In the United States, I feel that we are beginning to lose both of these things, there is a lack of planning in government and there is a lack of competition amongst firms and individuals.