Neoliberals saw economic rights as a path toward totalitarianism

Evidence

Neoliberalism was never a narrowly economic doctrine. The early neoliberals were wary of the very idea of the economy, and horrified by what Hayek described as the reinterpretation in economic terms of the old political ideals of liberty, equality and security. Repeatedly, they singled out President Roosevelt’s 1941 ‘Four Freedoms’ speech – which added ‘freedom from want’, and ‘freedom from fear’ to the more traditional freedoms of speech and worship – as evidence of the contemporary confusion of the market and household. Roosevelt ended his speech by declaring that freedom ‘means the supremacy of human rights everywhere’. For the neoliberals, in contrast, Roosevelt’s speech marked the demise of all human rights. Hayek argued that Roosevelt had transformed an ‘older liberal tradition of human rights’, entailing limits to the power wielded over individuals, into positive claims for benefits. These new rights, Hayek argued, could not be legally enforced without destroying the liberal order that the old civil rights aimed to secure. Social and economic rights would only be possible, he argued – speaking specifically of the UDHR – if ‘the whole of society were converted into a single organization, that is, made totalitarian in the fullest sense of the word’. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 163

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to human-rights scholarship on the UDHR drafting and to the ethics-of-markets debate the reader is pursuing. — connects to: Neoliberalism pivoted from the economy to the framework encasing it — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 88; Neoliberals sought enforceable capital flight rights that outstripped human rights protections. — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 481; Leading neoliberals defended restricting political freedom to preserve economic freedom — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 500 (+6 more)
• SHARE: Hayek’s claim that social rights require a totalitarian society is a sharp, quotable point for someone working on welfare-rights critiques.

Broader Connections

• Neoliberal theorists framed social and economic rights as a dangerous expansion of state power #expands (0.85) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 388
• Neoliberals characterized capitalism as peaceful and any economic politicization as totalitarian. #expands (0.80) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 434