ŹRÓDŁA NIEZNISZCZALNOŚCI KOLEKTYWISTYCZNYCH UTOPII A ZAGROŻENIA DLA WOLNOŚCI (NIE TYLKO EKONOMICZNEJ)
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Date
2009
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Wydział Prawa i Administracji UAM
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THE UNCEASING ATTRACTIVENESS OF COLLECTIVIST UTOPIAS AND ITS THREATS TO FREEDOM (NOT ONLY ECONOMIC)
Abstract
This polemical essay attempts to explain the reason for the unceasing attractiveness of
collectivist utopias and the actual and potential threats resulting from it. The author first looks at
history and explains why he communist system has collapsed. He points out that firstly, the economic
system of communism failed to achieve the goals it had promised to achieve and secondly, that the
existing knowledge (not only economic) strongly suggests that the failure was inevitable.
Next, a look is taken at collectivist utopias undertaken without coercion at the micro level, that is
by religiously or ideologically motivated groups. The conclusion from this empirical inquiry is the
same as above. They all failed over the past four centuries, proving that utopias without the power to
coerce is as hopelessly inefficient as were the utopias in power.
In the fourth part the author focuses on the main area of his considerations, namely the
unceasing attractiveness of collective utopias that are - often unthinkingly - being suggested all the
time. The conclusion is that for influential intellectual groups efficient, successful capitalism is
something of an anathema. Therefore, following Adam Smith, the author suggests that enlightened
self-interest is the main driving force of human economic action. This is in stark contrast with
influential groups - writers and artists, collectivist ideologists, and clergy - who preach altruism and
believe in molding the human beings to create the “new man” and achieve “social justice”.
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Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny 71, 2009, z. 4, s. 95-112