However, he emphasized that formal equality is the only concept of equality that is compatible with the rule of law. He criticized socialist and progressive attempts to theorize further notions of equality, which they package as "social justice," as disguised attacks on liberty. In the Constitution of Liberty, he explains:
"Equality of the general rules of law and conduct, however, is the only kind of equality conducive to liberty and the only equality which we can secure without destroying liberty. Not only has liberty nothing to do with any other sort of equality, but it is even bound to produce inequality in many respects. This is the necessary result and part of the justification of individual liberty: if the result of individual liberty did not demonstrate that some manners of living are more successful than others, much of the case for it would vanish."
Like Ludwig von Mises, Hayek defended liberty on the basis that individual liberty is essential to Western civilization — he described it as "that ideal of freedom which inspired modern Western civilization and whose partial realization made possible the achievements of that civilization." It would make no sense for anyone who values this civilization to undermine the very liberty that enables it to flourish. Attempting to eradicate inequality, while purporting to value the conditions that gave rise to that inequality, would be contradictory....<<<Read More>>>...
