It's so good to see someone NOT on the left, recognizing the harms caused by extreme wealth inequality. I'm not a libertarian, but I have a lot of respect for some libertarians, and @mattzwolinski.bsky.social is one of those. www.liberalism.org/p/the-power-... #inequality #libertarianism

The Power of Wealth

In every political system, wealthy and powerful people will try to write the rules to favor themselves. Liberal democracies should use a range of policy tools to resist elite capture.

liberalism.org

I am heartily in favour of taking an oft-quoted Adam Smith passage and doing something completely different with it. Latest entry from @mattzwolinski.bsky.social

Liberalism.org@liberalism.org · 4w ago

The appeal of simple political principles is real, and @mattzwolinski.bsky.social argues it is also where the trouble begins. www.liberalism.org/p/not-so-obv...

Heba Gowayed is totally right, and there is a robust literature for it. Bureaucratic violence is harm administered without overt force, through decision-making, paperwork, inaction, and exclusion. It reads as separate stories because responsibility is distributed in ways that avoid accountability.

Heba Gowayed هبة جويد@hebagowayed.bsky.social · last mo.

A man died in ICE custody due to neglect of his leukemia. Gary Indiana has no power & water sources are contaminated — people with electric stoves have no way to boil it. These are told as separate stories but they’re the same fact of death by neglect written in different fonts.

Rent control is a bad idea, but not because it's socialist. Building more housing is a good idea, even when socialists promote it. If a label can bundle a clearly bad policy with a clearly good one, the label isn't telling you much. My latest at @liberalism.org. www.liberalism.org/p/is-it-real...

Is It Really Socialism?

Don’t fight over mere words. Understand what’s behind them.

liberalism.org

Enjoyed this thoughtful if critical piece by @mattzwolinski.bsky.social for @liberalism.org Appreciate the acknowledgement of the efforts socialists have made defending liberal democracy www.liberalism.org/p/is-it-real...

I am honored to be at the center of building a truly pluralistic school at @jhu.edu. I believe it's a duty to academia and to America. "Johns Hopkins has done more to promote ideological pluralism than most, placing it near or at 'the top of the leaderboard,' says higher ed scholar Neil Gross."

Inside one major school’s campaign to bring conservatives to campus * WorldNetDaily * by Vince Bielski, Real Clear Wire

Heading for 'uncharted' territory of becoming 'a citadel of ideological pluralism'

wnd.com

Happy Independence Day. Just one clarification. That long section in the middle of the Declaration is a list of grievances. Not a to-do list.

Everything is political. But how can we live in the grip of all that has come before us? One way is to address our failings while getting on with life—and tending to our plots just as we tend to society, as @jkuznicki.bsky.social writes in this lovely essay www.liberalism.org/p/against-fr...

Against Friends, Against Enemies

On the liberalism of productive ambiguity. And pineapples.

liberalism.org

Recently we had a wide ranging conversation with political theorist @martinjacobson.bsky.social about #geoism, #anarchism, #LVT, #effectivealtruism, #animalrights, #StarTrek, and more. 🏴 Check it out! 👇 🔗 pod.link/1499036871/e... @uu-polisci.bsky.social @lucystag.bsky.social #georgism #philosophy

Public-sector unions bargain with politicians whose campaigns they help fund, against a public that isn’t in the room. My new piece at Liberalism.org argues this matters more than most defenses of unions admit, and looks at what it costs us in our schools and our policing.

The Power of Public Unions

Not all labor unions are alike. Public sector unions face different incentives, and they often bargain away better governance.

liberalism.org

When government employees help elect the officials negotiating their contracts, it leads to capture, not countervailing power. And it hurts poor and minority communities most. @mattzwolinski.bsky.social explores this concentration of power in his latest essay. www.liberalism.org/p/the-power-...

The Power of Public Unions

Not all labor unions are alike. Public sector unions face different incentives, and they often bargain away better governance.

liberalism.org

New at Law and Philosophy: Paul Forrester, "Property Rights and Natural Resources" Open access. link.springer.com/article/10.1... #Geolibertarianism #Georgism

When police officers violate constitutional rights, there should be accountability. @radleybalko.bsky.social traces how the Supreme Court has steadily dismantled the legal tools Congress created to provide accountability, and what it would take to restore it.

Federal Courts, Local Wrongs: How Qualified Immunity Gave Us Lawless Law Enforcement

In case after case, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it easier for police to get away with harming the innocent. Radley Balko looks at how the federal courts have gutted our protections against police ...

hubs.la

I’ve got a new paper out today in Politics, Philosophy & Economics, responding to Robert Hale’s 1923 argument that markets are “permeated with coercive restrictions of individual freedom.” Open access at the link below. doi.org/10.1177/1470...

I wrote about the places seeing historic lows in murder and appreciating just how far murder has fallen throughout the country relative to where it was at its peak. Murder & gun violence are by no means solved, but sometimes it's good to see the progress. jasher.substack.com/p/appreciati...

Appreciating Just How Far Murder Has Fallen in the US

I talk about US murder trends a ton which usually involves a lot of numbers.

jasher.substack.com

Jeff Asher@jeffasher.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Philadelphia reported 39 murders through April which is the fewest reported there since 1963. New York City reported 75 murders through April 26 which is on track to be the fewest murders through April ever reported (previous low was 86 in 2018).

Step 1: Read @mattzwolinski.bsky.social’s new Liberalism.org essay. Step 2: Read @nescio13.bsky.social’s response. digressionsimpressions.substack.com/p/against-th...

Against the Generality Principle and Pro Politics; Or why I am a Machiavellian and not a Classical Liberal.

I have been reading Matt Zwolinski (San Diego) with admiration since the very first days of the Bleeding Heart Libertarians (hereafter BHL) blog over fifteen years ago or so.

digressionsimpressions.substack.com

I am very happy to see this essay by @mattzwolinski.bsky.social on classical liberal approaches to wealth inequality. It's an important step for libertarians to recognize wealth inequality as a problem at all. Still, I find it dissatisfying. Short 🧵

The Power of Wealth

In every political system, wealthy and powerful people will try to write the rules to favor themselves. Liberal democracies should use a range of policy tools to resist elite capture.

liberalism.org

If you like arguments about why (and how) liberals should take wealth inequality seriously, drawing on Acemoglu and Robinson, Buchanan, Lindsey and Teles, Smith, etc..., boy have I got a book (chapter) for you... academic.oup.com/book/55806/c...

Paul Crider@paulcrider.liberalcurrents.com · 5mo ago

I am very happy to see this essay by @mattzwolinski.bsky.social on classical liberal approaches to wealth inequality. It's an important step for libertarians to recognize wealth inequality as a problem at all. Still, I find it dissatisfying. Short 🧵

Wealth inequality may not be unjust in itself, but wealth concentrated enough to purchase political influence is a problem classical liberals can no longer wave away. @mattzwolinski.bsky.social argues we already have what we need to address it. hubs.la/Q04dxjhz0

The Power of Wealth

In every political system, wealthy and powerful people will try to write the rules to favor themselves. Liberal democracies should use a range of policy tools to resist elite capture.

hubs.la

This is a really good discussion of how ideologies drift and fracture. The underlying philosophical principles and ideas underdetermine the ideology. The real work is done more by sociology and social attachments. Libertarianism is just the example here. Applies generally.

Matt Zwolinski@mattzwolinski.bsky.social · 5mo ago

New essay: the tribe comes first, the philosophy comes second. Even for libertarians. Maybe especially for libertarians.

New essay: the tribe comes first, the philosophy comes second. Even for libertarians. Maybe especially for libertarians.

The Myth of Libertarianism

Tribe first, theory later

open.substack.com

NIMBYs are the worst. From my conversation with @mattzwolinski.bsky.social, which you can listen to here: www.liberalism.org/podcast/the-...

Liberalism.org@liberalism.org · 5mo ago

“As a result zoning rules favor the interests of insiders in a way that limits the supply of housing, keeps housing prices high and makes it generally hard for anybody to afford a home. What can you do about that?” — @mattzwolinski.bsky.social Listen to the full episode: hubs.la/Q04b_TM80

“The most important insight in the liberal tradition is that by spreading power out you can mitigate its harmful effects.” — @mattzwolinski.bsky.social

A free, searchable index of 212,000+ philosophy book reviews. Covers 1,200+ journals going back to the 1890s. Filter by subfield, journal, author, reviewer, year, or access type. Built it because I kept wishing this existed. Now it does. philreviews.org

PhilReviews

A comprehensive, searchable database of 212,000+ philosophy book reviews across 1,480 academic journals.

philreviews.org

Liberals take concentration of power seriously, and liberalism offers solutions to the dangers of concentrated power. @mattzwolinski.bsky.social talks about how in a new essay at @liberalism.org. www.liberalism.org/p/the-enemy-is…

The Enemy Is Power, Wherever You Find It

Concentrations of power are a danger, and a liberal society must reckon with them wherever they occur. Liberals must watch for concentrations of economic as well as political power. An analysis of "A Positive Program for Laissez Faire" by Henry Simons shows this insight's power in liberal political…

liberalism.org

Another thing that makes me very excited about @liberalism.org: the lineup of regular writers, whose first essays we'll be rolling out over the next month:

Aaron Ross Powell@aaronrosspowell.com · 6mo ago

We’re launching @liberalism.org with an extraordinary lineup of six Liberalism Fellows, who will be regular contributors to the site: @radleybalko.bsky.social, @janetbufton.ca, Michael Munger, @sarahskwire.bsky.social, @ilyasomin.bsky.social, and @mattzwolinski.bsky.social.

At @liberalism.org, freshly launched this morning, we'll be publishing three new articles every week from the best minds in liberalism today. If you want to get those sent to your inbox, you can subscribe for free here: www.liberalism.org?modal=signup

Liberalism.org: An Online Magazine for Free and Open People

An Online Magazine for Free & Open People

liberalism.org

Human flourishing begins with freedom. Liberalism.org - 3/12/26

PhilReviews - a comprehensive index of philosophy book reviews. Now with over 77,000 reviews and support for book symposia. Plus a spiffy new logo.

PhilReviews

A comprehensive, searchable database of 77,000+ philosophy book reviews across 158 academic journals.

philreviews.org

"But he was filming ICE..." So what, you still don't get to shoot him. "But he was carrying a firearm..." So what, you still don't get to shoot him. "But he was a on a leftist Signal group..." SO WHAT. You still don't get to shoot him.