ABSTRACT
Friedrich Hayek (1944) warned that socialism would lead society down the road to serfdom, robbing individuals of their freedom for self-determination, and subjecting them to domination by a centralized political and economic authority. Hayek succeeded in striking fear of socialism in the hearts of Americans, a concern that 65 years later dominated the debate regarding the provision of universal health care in the United States. Ironically, Americans have held dear their attachment to Social Security and Medicare benefits that provide quasi-universal protection for elderly citizens, even resisting the proposed privatization of social security investment accounts before the stock market plunge of 2008. The historical lesson is that initial resistance by Americans to universal protections may eventually give way to steadfast adherence to social rights. Additionally, the institution of social protections has not dismantled the capitalist enterprise. Apparent confusion in the American mind about the ability of socialist policies to co-exist with capitalism provides hope that, in the future, U.S. citizens could become more amenable to other universal policies that simultaneously improve well-being and enrich democratic freedoms.
