Journal Entries #4

Modern Liberal Political Theory: The Basics

1: The Big Ideas: a) Everyone deserves an equal place at the starting line in the race of life, regardless of race, class, or gender.

b) John Rawls: Justice is fairness. Freedom comes before equality  ONLY IF greater equality in society is realized first. (He doesn't advocate for total equality. See the discussion of the difference principle below).

2: Advocate: John Rawls (1921-2002)

To decide what is fair, Rawls asks us to engage in a thought experiment. Imagine we are facing a pre-birth lottery behind a veil of ignorance. We do not know if we will be born rich or poor, or what our gender, race, or ethnicity will be. Rawls believes that reasonable people would choose to be free from oppressive majorities and would favor equality to meet the needs of the less fortunate. Luck plays a huge role in success, he argues, not only in terms of race, class, and gender but also talents, abilities, and what society values at a given point in history. As Michael Sandel argues, Judge Judy made more money than US Supreme Chief Justice Roberts because of the value our society places on entertainment. Judge Judy’s salary was based on the luck of being born into a time with TV technology and a pop culture to support it. Rawls’s difference principle allows for income inequality, but only if the lives of the less fortunate are also improved.

3: Major Objections to Modern Liberalism

a: High taxation decreases incentives for the ambitious to succeed and discourages innovation; b. High salaries are not fair, but people do receive pleasure from choosing to spend money to see high-priced athletes for example, according to economist Milton Friedman and others; c. It is impossible to ask people to step behind an imaginary veil of ignorance. People cannot disconnect so easily from their communities and values, argues Michael Sandel, nor should they, and d. What are the standards for defining a reasonable person and imagining what they think?

4: So what? Rawls argues that the libertarian view is superior to aristocratic rule, and that the modern liberal approach is an improvement on the liberation view because it recognizes that the race of life can be unequal. He also believes the modern liberal view does not go far enough. Even if the starting line is equal, says Rawls, the race will still go to those with the genes for intelligence and various other talents due to luck. Hence the importance of the difference principle to his thinking. The difference principle says people can earn more than others if the result is that the least advantaged are also better off. Debates between left and right over government social spending and income inequality have dominated the American political landscape for many years and show no signs of lessening in intensity

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