Hicks writes that whereas "in practice every liberal capitalist country has a solid record for being humane, for by and large respecting rights and freedoms, and for making it possible for people to put together fruitful and meaningful lives", in socialism "practice has time and again proved itself more brutal than the worst dictatorships prior to the twentieth century.
Hicks写道一方面“事实上每一个自由的资本主义国家有遵循人道的可靠记录，因為其总体上尊重权利和自由，并让人们一起过上丰富并有意义的生活成为可能”，而在社会主义中“实践已经一再证明它比20世纪最坏的独裁政府还要残忍。