Neoliberal Perspectives on Social Rights and State Intervention

The Evolution of Social Rights and Neoliberal Critique

Although during the 20th century fundamental social rights were extended to include social, economic, and cultural requirements—such as education, health, pensions, and unemployment protection—recent decades have seen neoliberal voices challenge this expansion, advocating for a return to a pure liberal model.

Friedrich Hayek and the Road to Servitude

Friedrich Hayek, the 1974 Nobel Prize laureate in Economic Sciences, argued that the social and political evolution of Western societies stems from the free market's capacity to balance individual interests. He maintained that:

• Market outcomes should be accepted without moral judgment regarding justice or injustice.
• Political interventionism aimed at wealth redistribution constitutes an illegitimate interference in the private sphere.
• Any progress toward equality beyond formal equality before the law represents a serious threat to freedom, leading to a "road to servitude."

Milton Friedman on Equality and Freedom

Milton Friedman, awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, similarly opposed the ethical justification of material equality. From his perspective, a society that prioritizes equality over freedom will ultimately lose both, as the use of force required to impose equality inevitably destroys individual liberty.

Robert Nozick and the Minimal State

The American philosopher Robert Nozick championed an individualistic perspective in his seminal work, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974). Nozick argued for a "Nightwatchman-State" with functions strictly limited to:

• Protecting individual rights.
• Maintaining police and military forces.
• Administering justice.

Nozick contended that the State must not sacrifice individual rights for collective interests. Consequently, he argued that the State has no mandate to ensure wealth distribution or access to services, regardless of poverty levels, as any intervention in citizens' economic benefits is morally unacceptable and an assault on individual freedom.