| Liberty and Distributive Justice |
| By Nicholas Snow ,
on 06-07-2011 00:00
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Views : 533 |
Favoured : 102 |
Published in : OP-ED, OP-ED |
The Cliché of Socialism Number 8 [1], written by Leonard E. Read [2] is “The free market ignores the poor.” This cliché has far from vanished. In fact, with the recent rise in the popularity of libertarianism many have used it as the jumping point for attacking the free market approach. It is their means for making the liberty libertarians desire sound repugnant; as if the free market system would make a few extremely rich and leave the rest with no shoes, sick, and graveling in the streets. This seems to be the point of Stephen Metcalf’s recent Slate Magazine article [3]attacking the libertarian position (see a nice summary of the libertarian responses here [4]).
These opponents of the free market see liberty in a different light, almost wholly separate from personal responsibility, because they view responsibility as a job for society as a whole. Material needs become a human right and society, through its agent the state, is responsible for providing such needs. In such a system, equality is material and justice distributive. Metcalf and others have attacked libertarian thought by showing so-called flaws in Robert Nozick’s [5] entitlement theory [6] (with his famous example of Wilt Chamberlain). But as Steven Horwitz points out [7], this completely misses the point Nozick was making.
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Last update: 20-07-2011 23:18
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| The event is in the hand of God |
| By Jim Noorlander ,
on 22-06-2011 22:15
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Views : 682 |
Favoured : 131 |
Published in : OP-ED, OP-ED |
Running for Congress 3rd Congressional district Utah
Six years ago I was asked to speak before the Constitution Party National Committee Meeting in Salt Lake City. In that meeting were some of the brightest men in the nation. What could I possibly say to influence these great minds? Among other things, I came across a quote by George Washington that I shared with them, now being used on a regular basis by talk-show host Glenn Beck. It states:
If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God.
Last update: 20-07-2011 22:19
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