Working Paper No. 126. Resorting to Statism to Find Meaning:Conservatism and Leftism
Klein, D.B. (2008). Resorting to Statism to Find Meaning: Conservatism and Leftism. Ratio Working Paper No. 126.
Klein, D.B. (2008). Resorting to Statism to Find Meaning: Conservatism and Leftism. Ratio Working Paper No. 126.
The paper develops the idea of configuration of ownership to distinguish three primary political ideologies: (classical) liberalism, conservatism, and leftism. The liberal configuration is atomistic in its recognition of owners and ownership claims; it conforms closely to Adam Smith’s “commutative justice,” which Smith represented as a sort of social grammar. The conservative configuration also strives for a social grammar, but it counts among the set of owners certain spirit-lords such as God and Patria. The liberal and conservative configurations become isomorphic if and only if the ownership claims of the conservative spirit-lords are reduced to nothing. The left configuration ascribes fundamental ownership of resources to the people, the state, and sees laws as organizational house-rules into which one enters voluntary by choosing to remain within the polity; the type of justice that pertains is parallel to Smith’s “distributive justice,” which Smith associated with aspirational rules for achieving beauty in composition. The scheme illuminates why the left’s conception of liberty consists in civil liberties. The formulation of configurations is used to interpret the semantics of the three primary ideologies. Meanwhile, it is noted that actually existing parties and movements are admixtures of the three primary ideologies. For example, what makes Republicanism “conservative” is that it is relatively conservative; it by no means thoroughly or consistently rejects the precept of collective ownership by the polity.
Klein, D.B.
2008
Ratio Working Paper
2020
Ratio Working Paper
Liberalism is losing ground, while populist or even authoritarian nationalist regimes are on the rise. This paper argues that the causes of the decline are, at least partly, endogenous, that a narrow focus on economic efficiency and the successful critique of socialism and the welfare state have created an idea vacuum that has opened up for these illiberal tendencies. The conclusion is that a central challenge for liberalism is to offer a comprehensive idea and narrative about meaning and community that is not socialistic, conservative or nationalistic, but distinctly liberal, to counter these developments.
2019
Liberalism is losing ground, while populist or even authoritarian nationalist regimes are on the rise. This article argues that the causes of the decline are, at least partly, endogenous, that a narrow focus on economic efficiency and the successful critique of socialism and the welfare state have created an idea vacuum that has opened up for these illiberal tendencies. The conclusion is that a central challenge for liberalism is to offer a comprehensive idea and narrative about meaning and community that is not socialist, conservative or nationalist, but distinctly liberal, to counter these developments.
2020
Ratioakademien.
Alla vill ha ett rättvist samhälle. Men vad är rättvisa och hur kan den uppnås? Frågan är långt ifrån okomplicerad, men svaret är avgörande för ett bättre fungerande samhällskontrakt. I Rättvis ojämlikhet i det öppna samhället analyseras olika rättvisebegrepp, deras förutsättningar, konsekvenser och empiriska utmaningar. I ett öppet samhälle är inkomstskillnader oundvikliga och i många fall något positivt och rättvist. Jämlikhet är inte detsamma som rättvisa. Ett rättvisare Sverige och rättvis ojämlikhet åstadkoms genom social rörlighet, en stärkt rättsstat, förbättrad utbildning och sänkta inkomstskatter, ett möjligheternas land.
Aktuell expert