Quote of the Day: ‘Why the worst get on top’

 

"We must here return for a moment to the position which precedes the suppression of democratic institutions and the creation of a totalitarian
regime.
    “In this stage it is the general demand for quick and determined government
action that is the dominating element in the situation, dissatisfaction with the
slow and cumbersome course of democratic procedure which makes action
for action's sake the goal.
    “It is then the man or the party who seems strong and resolute enough ‘to
get things done’ who exercises the greatest appeal.
    "’Strong’ in this sense means not merely a numerical majority — it is the
ineffectiveness of parliamentary majorities with which people are dissatisfied.
    “What they will seek is somebody with such solid support as to inspire confidence that he can carry out whatever he wants."
~ F.A. Hayek, from the chapter "Why the Worst Get on Top" from The Road to Serfdom