The increasing popular perceptions that ends can only be achieved through the state (p. 5.4:64), that independence is an antisocial defect rather than a virtue (p. 5.4:65), and that human values must be obtained by force rather than by the creative application of one's mind (p. 5.4:66) all lead people to regard themselves as largely helpless and unable to realize positive improvements in their lives through their own efforts. Hayek identifies this "alteration in the character of the people" as the most important effect of statism, describing it as a very gradual "psychological change," realized "perhaps over one or two generations" (

). Such feelings of personal inefficacy encourage individuals to become ever more dependent on the state, demanding that the government assist in providing for their needs and undertake additional projects to serve their various ends. Moreover, these attitudes become a psychological impediment to productivity, accelerating the economic decline.

This sense of personal helplessness and dependency, together with worsening economic conditions, prompts many individuals to seek avenues of psychological escape. In particular, increasing frustration and the desire to evade a seemingly hopeless reality lead many into alcohol and other forms of substance abuse. Such habits, of course, tend to compound the problem, plunging addicts into still more wretched conditions in a vicious cycle. If the addiction encounters governmental prohibition, the tendency toward violent crime is escalated, for reasons detailed in pp. 4.11:67-71.

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