As long as money is moralized as speech, and not understood as power, there is little chance that the republic can put money in its proper place. Without a politics—of redistributive taxation, public goods investment for growth, and rules controlling money in politics—any critique of what money has done to American life is just moralizing.
Tag: market
Citizenship and Moral Narcissism
Putting freedom first is what liberal society has always stood for. There is nothing wrong with enterprise, initiative, personal responsibility or even the lawful pursuit of private profit. What is incoherent is believing these goals can be achieved without a citizenship of entitlement, without the shared foundation that alone Makes freedom possible for all.
Needs and justice in the ‘Wealth of Nations’: an introductory essay
“No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable […]” — Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations