The So-Called Circle of Understanding

If you pass by a construction site, you will often notice some people standing around with nothing to do. Hasty West Europeans will typically shake their finger — at least in spirit — and mutter a few words about the declining work morale in times of a construction boom. This is a typical case of prejudice. In point of truth, the case is quite different. Although no friend of ‘real’ definitions purporting to exhibit the essence of entities, if I were asked for the essence of human planning I would answer: ‘there must always be someone waiting for something’. Prejudices are very often difficult to eradicate. This can be seen in our example and is exemplified on a higher level and to a much greater extent in states with a centralised economy. For several decades Marxists - but not just Marxists - have waged a dogged and hopeless fight against the truth that planning failures constitute an integral part of planning. Nevertheless, Marxist Utopians seem to this very day to remain blind to this truth.