Like the kind that made you stop and think for a second about how stupid the person advocating it is. For me, it’s the classic “The biggest mistake in recent history was the Allies not pushing into Russia after the fall of Berlin.”
There’s just a level of imperialist arrogance and blood thirst in there that makes my skin crawl. The worst thing in human history was that the US didn’t immediately betray the Soviets and wipe them out until they were sure communism was done for.
I was discussing with a hardcore neo-liberal, almost to the degree of ancap about government and he pointed out, that when centralizing power thr rights of minorities are often overlooked, he said: “Suddenly 3% of the popultation just becomes a meaningless number that can just be sent to their death”. The next day, we were discussing about covid restrictions, where my point was simply, that individual freedoms don’t count anymore, when there is harm to other. He simply responded with. “oh the 3% that are actually in danger when getting covid, can just stay inside, as if it was worth it restricting myself for them.”
This is a subtle point throughout Hayek’s writings. He’s always expressing concern for minorities and at first it’s like, I thought this guy was supposed to be a neoliberal? Then it slowly dawns on you: the only minority he cares about is the rich.
That’s the quiet part out loud. Minoritarianism is how all bourgeois democracies are structured.
Aren’t earlier liberal writings very explicit about such “minority rights”?
I think so. Hayek is very subtle about it, though.