“Many critics point out that this one dimensional approach to education helps produce citizens who are selfish, disinterested in politics, and unprepared for dealing with moral complexities, which are not reducible to cost-benefit analysis.”
Author: Matt McManus
Taking Science Fiction Seriously
“Today, it is science fiction that often carried the torch of the utopian aspiration.”
Orwell and the Motives of “Socialists”
“The typical socialist often had very little concrete experience with the actual conditions facing those they purported to care about. They were often middle class, well educated, and highly resentful of the rich.”
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Where Tolstoy Departs from Dostoevsky
“Tolstoy was not naïve in thinking that social and political reform would end all forms of evil in human life. Like Dostoevsky, he was very well aware that much wickedness flowed from the pride and vanity of men like Napoleon or the Russian tsars.”
Dostoevsky’s Extremely Thoughtful Critique of the Left
“People do not truly want an end to suffering in all cases…They need challenges in order to feel the thrill of victory, guilt over their actions to have a chance at redemption, and the possibility of rejection and hatred to feel any deep form of love.”
On Brexit: In Reply to Clive Pinder
“Given Pinder’s distaste for academia, I don’t imagine he would be fond of this kind of Platonic utopia.”
The Shallowness of the Intellectual Dark Web
“Edmund Burke’s arguments against the French Revolutionaries resonate because he understood the revolutionaries’ position quite well.”
Preview: Human Dignity and the Law
“If individuals are able to become authors of their lives in a substantive way, we can say they have lived a dignified life.”
Social Democracy and Capitalism: A Reply To Richard Burcik
“If capitalism doesn’t work for us all, it doesn’t work at all.”
Review: Kevin O’Rourke’s “A Short History of Brexit: From Brentry to Backstop”
“Importantly, he notes that it was initially the Conservative party that embraced European integration and the Labour Party which vehemently opposed it.”
A Preview of “The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism”
“Perhaps it would be a great Christmas present for the depressed Leftist in one’s life?”
Why Canada Needs to Ditch the First-Past-the-Post System
“Democratic legitimacy should not be a partisan issue; we, as Canadians, should all be taking this opportunity to discern how to make the country a more inclusive and participatory place.”
The False Binary Between Freedom and Equality (Part II)
“What constitutes a sufficiently high level of education and intelligence to participate in politics is unclear, and advocates of these elitist positions are suspiciously prone to announcing the cut-off point lies with individuals roughly as capable and qualified as themselves.”
The False Binary Between Freedom and Equality (Part I)
“It is not hard to infer that Locke may have been concerned that universal suffrage would result in concerted efforts to establish a more egalitarian society.”
Is the Intellectual Dark Web as “Reasonable” As It Claims?
“Once one actually delves into the positions put forward by many of members of the Intellectual Dark Web, it becomes clear they are just as fallible as their intellectual opponents.”