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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Extracts from an Interview Friedrich von Hayek
"El Mercurio" (p. D8-D9), 12 April 1981, Santiago de Chile
What opinion, in your view, should we have of dictatorships?
Well, I would say that, as long-term institutions, I am totally against
dictatorships. But a dictatorship may be a necessary system for a
transitional period. At times it is necessary for a country to have, for a
time, some form or other of dictatorial power. As you will understand, it is
possible for a dictator to govern in a liberal way. And it is also possible
for a democracy to govern with a total lack of liberalism. Personally I
prefer a liberal dictator to democratic government lacking liberalism. My
personal impression — and this is valid for South America - is that in
Chile, for example, we will witness a transition from a dictatorial
government to a liberal government. And during this transition it may be
necessary to maintain certain dictatorial powers, not as something permanent
, but as a temporary arrangement.
Apart from Chile, can you mention other cases of transitional dictatorial
governments?
Well, in England, Cromwell played a transitional role between absolute royal
power and the limited powers of the constitutional monarchies. In Portugal,
the dictator Oliveira Salazar also started on the right path here, but he
failed. He tried, but did not succeed. Then after the war, Konrad Adenauer
and Ludwig Erhardt held initially almost dictatorial powers, using them to
establish a liberal government in the shortest possible space of time. The
situation called for the presence of two very strong men to achieve this
task. And the two of them very successfully accomplished this stage towards
the establishment of a democratic government. If you permit I would like to
make a brief comment in this sense on Argentina.
Why not?
I felt very disenchanted right from my first visit there, shortly after
Peron's fall. At that time I talked with many officers from the Military
School. They were highly intelligent persons. Politically brilliant, I would
say among the most brilliant politicians in their country. For me it was a
pity they did not make better use of this intelligence. I would have hoped
they could have laid the foundations for a stable democratic government. And
yet they did not. I do not know why they failed, in fact, but my impression
is that they had the political ability and the intelligence to do so.
Which means that you would propose stronger, dictatorial governments, during
transitional periods...
When a government is in a situation of rupture, and there are no recognized
rules, rules have to be created in order to say what can be done and what
cannot. In such circumstances it is practically inevitable for someone to
have almost absolute powers. Absolute powers that need to be used precisely
in order to avoid and limit any absolute power in the future. It may seem a
contradiction that it is I of all people who am saying this, I who plead for
limiting government's powers in people's lives and maintain that many of
our problems are due, precisely, to too much government. However, when I
refer to this dictatorial power, I am talking of a transitional period,
solely. As a means of establishing a stable democracy and liberty, clean of
impurities. This is the only way I can justify it - and recommend it. |
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