Venezuela Reminds Us That Socialism Frequently Leads to Dictatorship: New at Reason

On March 29, the Supreme Court of Venezuela dissolved the country’s elected legislature, allowing Venezuela’s top court to write future laws. The court is filled with allies of Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, while the legislature is dominated by Maduro’s opponents, and the court’s ruling was seen as the latest step on Venezuela’s descent into a full-fledged dictatorship. But following international outcry—as well as the appearance of cracks within Maduro’s own party—the court reversed itself just a few days later, on April 1.

Thus, the uneasy standoff between Venezeula’s legislature and executive is set to continue. Last week’s episode is only the latest reminder of the tendency of socialism to lead to dictatorship, Marian Tupy points out. As Friedrich Hayek explained in The Road to Serfdom, growing state interference in the economy leads to massive inefficiencies and long queues outside empty shops. A state of perpetual economic crisis then leads to calls for more planning. But economic planning is inimical to freedom. As there can be no agreement on a single plan in a free society, the centralization of economic decision-making has to be accompanied by centralization of political power in the hands of a small elite.

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