I am pleased to announce the winning essay from this summer's reading contest, based on the book by F.A. Hayek's classic The Road to Serfdom.

Participants were asked were asked to write a 2-4 page essay on the following topic: "Free Enterprise vs. Collectivism: Which philosophy creates a superior economic order?" It was a highly competitive field, with 25 stellar essays turned in for completion. The winners are below:

First Place: Michael Toth, University of Virginia School of Law
Second Place: Richard Marsh, Wofford College (SC)
Third Place: Joshua Ney, University of Kansas

Michael Toth's winning essay, "All Creativity is Local: The Superior Economic Order of Free Enterprise" is available online here: http://www.isi.org/programs/conferences/content/reading_contest_05_winner.pdf

Congratulations to Michael, who has won a free trip to ISI's 2005 North Carolina Leadership Conference at UNC-Chapel Hill on November 5, 2005, and additional pats on the back to Richard Marsh and Joshua Ney, who are receiving book awards from ISI Books.

I'd like visitors and forum participants to now engage in a discussion of The Road to Serfdom and Michael's winning essay. To start, do you agree with Michael's conclusions? Is "All Creativity Local?"

HOORAY!
I got second!

In a short one word answer: yes.

I think the question was ridiculous to begin with. To ask whether free enterprise or collectivism creates a superior economic order is like asking whether kerosene or water is better for putting out a fire. Collectivism, by nature, is intended to be devoid of economics. Marx envisioned the end of radical scarcity (know thine enemy, right?) by the state owning the means of production and equally dividing the rights to it. Granted, that's flawed, but the basic premise is that economics dies. Collectivism is barren of the political economy that Hayek talked about. So...kudos to the essayist for shooting fish in a barrel. Well done.

To hear modern collectivists talk, their aim is not the eradication of political economy, but merely the equalization of the 'classes.' As we well know, the illusion of equality is superficial beyond the moral and legal equality all humans share.It is precisely these inequalities that make the human condition what it is. Thus, collectivism would strip humanity of that which makes us human.