Free Republic

The inequality of wealth and income in the U.S. has become an increasingly prevalent issue in recent years. One reason for this is that the visibility of this inequality has been increasing gradually for a long time--as society has become less segregated, people can now see more clearly how much other people make and consume. Owing to urban life and the media, our proximity to one another has decreased, making the disparity all too obvious. In addition to this general trend, the financial crisis, with all of its fall out, shined a spotlight on the salaries of bankers and financial...

In his third State of the Union address last night, President Obama channeled the mantra of U.S. progressive groups by repeatedly calling for so-called economic fairness in America. Some progressives point to revolutionary socialist Karl Marx as divining economic theory that stresses “economic fairness.” Also, late Harvard professor John Rawls, one of the most important philosophers of liberalism in the twentieth century, named his own theory “justice as fairness.” Some have previously pointed to Rawls possible influence over Obama. Rawls calls for ensuring distributive justice of resources. The headlines in scores of U.S. newspapers and news websites today stress the...

So, a title shoots to the top of Amazon.com’s sales ranking within days of its release and libraries are caught off-guard—only a handful have it on hand and another few wait for its delivery; it’s already on backorder at Baker & Taylor (B&T). This scenario occurred with the April 7 release of Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles, which hit #6 last week on Amazon but was #33 today. (The book, initially published as shareware and then by a Christian publishing house and POD house Xlibris, has been reissued by Ulysses Press, which...

Judging from the rhetoric of leading Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, a major domestic issue in the 2008 presidential campaign is the supposed problem of rising economic inequality. What is striking is that problem is being debated amid substantial evidence that the steady improvement in the economy since 9/11 -- largely under the impetus of the much-derided Bush tax cuts -- has benefited Americans of all income levels, and that the rich are paying a higher share of total taxes than ever before. But as Lawrence Mishel, president of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, revealingly acknowledged...

John Rawls, influential political philosopher, dead at 81: Author of "A Theory of Justice" was James Bryant Conant University Professor Emeritus By Ken Gewertz Gazette Staff John Rawls, the James Bryant Conant University Professor Emeritus, whose 1971 book, "A Theory of Justice" argued persuasively for a political philosophy based on equality and individual rights, died Sunday (Nov. 24) at the age of 81. Rawls is considered by many to be the most important political philosopher of the second half of the 20th century and a powerful advocate of the liberal perspective. His work continues to be a major influence in...

THE AESTHETICS OF RACE VERSUS THE BEAUTY OF HUMANITY Race is an inherently divisive—and recent—idea. There is no cultural issue more explosive today than race. It is a matter that continually evades any attempt at rational analysis and instead distorts our politics and inflames the passions. A sad consequence is the debasement of our cultural life. Rather than being united by objects of love, by shared and commonly embraced ideals, we are increasingly divided along racial lines by competing objects of desire, all presumed to be of equal value, each demanding its due. Such competing desires, because they make...