January 01, 2024 • By Richard B. McKenzie
Richard McKenzie, Gerken Professor of Economics emeritus in the Merage School of Business at UCI writes, “If Hayek could return from his grave, I suspect he would stress an obvious point that has evolutionary roots: The unraveling of civil society is now dramatically uneven, which offers hope, because many areas of the country retain their general allegiance to key norms promoting civility remain stable will be teaching unstable areas lessons on what they are losing. They will also remind everyone of the importance of another norm too often and too easily abandoned: People must face consequences—that is, costs—for their destructive and wanton misbehavior. Friedrich Hayek’s theory of civil order via evolved norms offers a form of implied hope, that long-term evolutionary forces will override the current wanton efforts of many to contribute to the breakdown in civil society and democracy via their redesign efforts.”
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