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There is little disagreement among political philosophers, democratic theorists or empirical researchers that politics, freedom, society and equality are core principles of liberal democracy. What is highly disputed, however, is the meaning of these democratic principles and the proper relation between them that makes for a good political order. The assumption has always been that there is a trade-off between freedom and equality. ‘Trade-off’ means in this context that both principles cannot be maximized at the same time. Investigations of data from democracies leads to reject the trade-off assumption which has a long tradition Freedom and political as well as economic equality are mutually reinforcing.
There is no evidence of a negative association between freedom on the one hand and equality on the other. The traditional libertarian fear of a trade-off between freedom and equality is unfounded, as we core principles of democracy possess a mutually reinforcing association. Societies and political orders do not have to decide between the two principles but can pursue the maximization of both freedom and equality. This does not mean, of course, that real-world politics cannot pursue one over the other, but any arguments to this end should no longer rest on the claim that the two principles are mutually exclusive in modern democracies. Politics, society, freedom and equality can certainly coexist.
I did not want to write this article on the Afghanistan withdrawal as I thought the American public had learned their lesson from the boondoggles in the Middle East over the past twenty years. Alas, we are still a society largely driven by media cycles so I am going to...
Kevin Rector and the Los Angeles Times analyzed crime data of L.A. homicides concluding that in the 18-month period from January 2020 through this June, there were 266 Latino victims killed in L.A., compared with 182 Latino victims in the prior 18-month period — a 46.2% increase. There were 192...
New data from the Census Bureau to be released today is expected to show that dozens of counties across 18 states, largely in the South and Southwest, are now less than 50 percent white, and no racial or ethnic group makes up a majority. The non-Hispanic white population is expected...
I’ve been seeing a lot of Democrats defend Andrew Cuomo against the sexual harassment and impropriety that forced him to resign. It’s the usual medley of “Look at this picture one of the accusers took with him!” and “He deserved due process!” While not unexpected in this age of Al...
75% of voters believe more police are needed on the street as crime is on the rise across the country, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey. Just 25 percent of respondents in the poll said they do not need more policing. Brittany Bernstein of National Review gives us the...
Kwaisi France / Politics, Society, Freedom, and Equality / Science, Technology & Medicine / The Breeze
by KTB Editors
Ian Hodgson and Rose Wong of the Tampa Bay Times reports how Florida man, Governor Ron DeSantis, is in denial despite leading the nation last week in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations as the Sunshine State becomes the epicenter of the delta-driven fourth pandemic wave. The state continues to issue weekly,...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. suspended payments and interest on federal student loans, but those protections are set to end on Sept. 30, 2021. Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) are making a renewed push for President Joe Biden...
Kwaisi France / Politics, Society, Freedom, and Equality / Religion / Science, Technology & Medicine / The Breeze
Nearly 40% of Republicans are still hesitant about getting the Covid-19 vaccine or refuse to get it, a new Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI)/Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) poll finds. Allison Durkee of Forbes crunches the numbers on the Republican pandemic of the unvaccinated. Overall 71% of poll respondents in the...
Aaron Morrison, writing for the Associated Press, reminds us of who the drug war’s losers are: Fifty years ago this summer, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. Today, with the U.S. mired in a deadly opioid epidemic that did not abate during the coronavirus pandemic’s worst days, it...
The pandemic resurgence is affecting optimism in the nation. Writing for ABC News, Quinn Scanlan highlights how now 55% of the public say they are pessimistic about the direction of the country, a change from the 36% that said the same in an ABC News/Ipsos poll published May 2. In...