Chris Dillow — On Burkean Marxism

On social, political, and economic thought. Reconciling Burke as icon of the right and Marx as icon of the left.

Where Hayek and economic liberals go wrong is equating the wisdom of crowds with the invisible hand of the market rather than the evolutionary process that reveals the wisdom of the species. Markets are a manifestation of that species wisdom but not the whole of it.

Free markets do not necessarily lead to free individuals in a free society in which all can unfold their potential.

A big gripe Marxists have with capitalism is that it is a system of domination; in the workplace and in politics, only a few have effective power. By contrast, under communism such domination will cease; communism is a society “in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” In this sense, communism replaces the rule of foolish individuals with that of the wise species. It therefore facilitates Burkeanism in a way which capitalism cannot.

Stumbling and Mumbling
On Burkean Marxism
Chris Dillow | Investors Chronicle