Once they believe that they are being commanded by an impersonal law rather than other human beings, they view their obedience to political authority as a public-spirited acceptance of the requirements of social life rather than mere acquiescence to superior power.#
People who would ordinarily consider it a great evil to deprive individuals of their rights or oppress politically powerless minority groups will respond with patriotic fervor when these same actions are described as upholding the rule of law.#
The myth of impersonal government is simply the most effective means of social control available to the state.#
Winner of the Mont Pelerin Society’s 2012 Hayek Essay Contest. The essay first discusses the weaknesses of national central banking, and how those flaws are corrected in both free banking and an international central bank. Second, it draws from Hayek’s wider economic and political work to evaluate both alternatives according . . .