HAYEK ON CIVILIZATION

Once in a while, I come across a poster who argues that he is a "self-made man" and as a result, he should not pay any taxes. I've tried to point out how much he relies on others but I don't think I've had much success. Hayek expresses what I tried to say very well.

(From The Constitution of Liberty, Chapter Two, "The Creative Powers of a Free Civilization, " page 22.)

Most of the advantages of social life, especially in its more advanced forms which we call "civilization," rest on the fact that the individual benefits from more knowledge than he is aware of. It might be said that civilization begins when the individual in the pursuit of his ends can make use of more knowledge than he has himself acquired and when he can transcend the boundaries of his ignorance by profiting from knowledge he does not himself possess.