It reflects how people actually align politically. We've gone through a century in which the accepted wisdom was that the only way to keep the rich from owning everything is to make government very big.
There are alternatives. The ancient Law of Moses had checks on the rich and a welfare system despite not having any police force or stand…
It reflects how people actually align politically. We've gone through a century in which the accepted wisdom was that the only way to keep the rich from owning everything is to make government very big.
There are alternatives. The ancient Law of Moses had checks on the rich and a welfare system despite not having any police force or standing army. And as far as I can tell, the duties of the Levites were ceremonial, archival, and public health inspections. Not really a complete professional government.
Big government which makes it hard to start a business is lower-right. Big government funded by deficit spending is lower-right. Government enforced titles of nobility and/or slavery are lower-right. For such reasons Adam Smith was on the political left of his day even though he was calling for less government.
As for liberty, I was a libertarian for quite some time. But eventually I realized that extreme wealth relationships constitute power relationships. Some sort of social safety net is required to keep people from effectively selling themselves into slavery. Likewise, there needs to be checks on billionaires buying up all the farmland.
A higher paid working class is a working class that needs less welfare programs. To have liberty and democracy, some populism is required.
It reflects how people actually align politically. We've gone through a century in which the accepted wisdom was that the only way to keep the rich from owning everything is to make government very big.
There are alternatives. The ancient Law of Moses had checks on the rich and a welfare system despite not having any police force or standing army. And as far as I can tell, the duties of the Levites were ceremonial, archival, and public health inspections. Not really a complete professional government.
Big government which makes it hard to start a business is lower-right. Big government funded by deficit spending is lower-right. Government enforced titles of nobility and/or slavery are lower-right. For such reasons Adam Smith was on the political left of his day even though he was calling for less government.
As for liberty, I was a libertarian for quite some time. But eventually I realized that extreme wealth relationships constitute power relationships. Some sort of social safety net is required to keep people from effectively selling themselves into slavery. Likewise, there needs to be checks on billionaires buying up all the farmland.
A higher paid working class is a working class that needs less welfare programs. To have liberty and democracy, some populism is required.