Does the road to serfdom lead to the Servile State? [An article from: European Journal of Political Economy]

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Description:
Hilaire Belloc's The Servile State is often seen as an antisocialist tract arguing that ''socialism is slavery.'' It is typically assumed that an appreciation and defense of free market capitalism, as well as a general dislike of government intervention must motivate the its thesis. Nevertheless The Servile State is an argument against what Belloc saw as unbridled capitalism not collectivism. Belloc defines capitalism to mean a state in which there is a skewed distribution of wealth in society where the majority of people are dispossessed, proletariat, and a minority makes up the capitalist, property owning class. For Belloc capitalism is an inherently unstable system and servile measures arise to ameliorate insecurity and instability.