Today it is common to define democracy as a system of “majority rule.” Unfortunately. This claim is false in three senses. First, except in very small and homogeneous polities, perhaps a village, there is no “majority” that could “rule” in … Read more
Category: Politics
Understanding Democracy, part I: Democracies are not states
Sunday I joined some Bay Area libertarians for dinner and conversation at a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley. I had been invited as a result of one reading my chapter on libertarianism in Uncivil Liberties: Deconstructing Libertarianism. At his request … Read more
Libertarians argue North Dakota is America’s freest state and in doing so rebut themselves
The libertarian Mercatus Center at George Mason University has just released a report arguing that North Dakota is the freest state in the union while New York is the least free, followed by California in 49th place. Even … Read more
Starbucks and Capitalism vs. the Market
In my post “Capitalism vs. the market” I argued that while when the market was subordinate to civil society it was a source for enhancing human liberty, when it became independent of, and even worse, superior to civil society … Read more
Radio interview on our new book criticizing libertarianism
Along with its editor, Georgia Kelly, I am in a radio interview discussing our new book of essays criticizing libertarian ideology. It’s short, as these things usually are, but hopefully will make our book sound like something you will want … Read more