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October 3, 2019|inequality, Poverty

Why Inequality Should Not Be an Object of Social Policy

by John O. McGinnis|

Protest at New York City Hall on April 4, 2019 (Image: rblfmr/shutterstock.com).
The single greatest danger today to the American experiment is that equality seems to be eclipsing liberty as our central goal.

September 25, 2019|Chris Arnade, dignity, industrial decline, Poverty

Encountering the Provincials

by Rachel Lu|

A street corner in the Bronx, New York City, New York (Alexandre Saez/Shutterstock.com).
A resurgence of small-town life would certainly be a blessing. Is capitalism really the enemy, though?

May 23, 2019|inequality, Oxfam, Poverty, World Bank

Global Poverty and the Lure of Resentment

by James R. Rogers|

Oxfam office in Berlin, Germany (360b / Shutterstock.com).
Oxfam is reluctant to consider a troubling question: What if global poverty declined because economic inequality increased?

May 22, 2019|Growth, inequality, Interventionism, Paul Collier, Poverty

Paul Collier and the False Promise of “Centrism”

by Nikolai G. Wenzel|

The New York Stock Exchange (Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock.com).
We need to recognize that the first step—rather than further government "medicine"—is to stop poisoning the patient, and return to capitalism.

May 24, 2018|Catholic Social Thought, Economic growth, Equality, John Locke, Oeconomicae et pecuniariae quaestiones, Pope Francis, Poverty

Equality versus Feeding the Hungry

by James R. Rogers|

People walking along an open sewer in an unidentified African town (John Wollworth/Shutterstock.com).
It is simply too pat to point to bare economic inequality and decry it as necessarily unjust: pursuing equality can often harm growth.

January 16, 2018|Campaign Finance, Immigration, One Nation Undecided, Poverty, Racial Preferences, Religious Freedom

Debating the Thorniest Issues: A Conversation with Peter Schuck

by Peter H. Schuck|

Debating Poverty, Immigration, Racial Preferences, Campaign Finance, and Religious Freedom with Peter Schuck, author of One Nation Undecided.

September 25, 2015|Class envy, compound interest, hate speech, income inequality, Poverty, The 99 Percent, The One Percent

Confessions of a Member of the One Percent

by Theodore Dalrymple|

Passing a kiosk in France recently, I noticed a magazine on the rack that promised to reveal to the multitude the secrets of the One Percent. The One Percent in question was, of course, that small and now infamous proportion of humanity that is separated from the 99 Percent by its wealth and, presumably, happiness and all other desirable things.

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August 26, 2015|Class envy, Egalitarianism, hate speech, Poverty

Rich Man, Poor Man: No Insults Allowed

by Theodore Dalrymple|

A well-known religious figure is reported to have said: “For ye have the poor with you always.” This is even more the case if economic inequality persists (as the history of the world suggests it might) and poverty is defined in relative terms. The same well-known figure added, however, that “whensoever ye will, ye may do them good.”

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August 1, 2014|Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Great Society, Paul Ryan, Poverty

Entering a Poverty Quagmire

by Greg Weiner|

 

Expanding Opportunity Cover

Poverty has many fathers, but its grandparent is scarcity. This is an inherent and ineradicable feature of the human condition—indeed of the natural world. Consequently, attempts to wage war on poverty as opposed to alleviating its symptoms will always become quagmires. It is thus regrettable that Paul Ryan has signed up for a new assault.

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January 9, 2014|Argentina, capitalism, Catholic Social Teaching, Centesimus Annus, Crony Capitalism, Evangelii Gaudium, Populorum Progresso, Poverty

Is the Pope’s Capitalism Catholic?

by Donald Devine|

What would you think of capitalism if you were born in a country that had developed a market economy by the dawn of the 20th Century and was ranked among the ten wealthiest nations per capita in the world—but one hundred years later had dropped to seventieth with little of that wealth having trickled down to the poorest in society? Such was Pope Francis’ experience with capitalism in Argentina and his pastoral letter Evangelii Gaudium cannot be understood without it. We all begin with our culture and his would discourage anyone, especially someone so moved by concern for the poor.

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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About

Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund.
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