A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Liberalism

  • Friday links

    –On Christianity, the Holocaust, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. –Recent posts on what’s apparently now being referred to as the “new universalism” from James K.A. Smith, Halden Doerge, and David Congdon. –Does having a monarchy lead to greater equality? –Redeeming the “L word.” –Appreciating both N.T. Wright’s and Marcus Borg’s views of the Resurrection. –Why liberals should Read more

  • A budget plan that really is brave

    Thought it didn’t receive much coverage, the Congressional Progressive Caucus released its own budget plan last week. According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, the plan would reduce the debt and actually result in a budget surplus in ten years. It would pull this off by, among other things, raising taxes on the Read more

  • A leaner, meaner liberalism?

    I’m not qualified to assess the numbers offered in President Obama’s speech on his plan to reduce the federal debt. There’ll be lots of details to come, and lots of commentary on his plan from people far better equipped to crunch the numbers than I am. Plus, whatever we ultimately end up with will no Read more

  • Freedom isn’t free

    I recently came across this article in The Nation arguing that the Left needs to reclaim the language of freedom from the Right. While liberals have espoused values like equality and social justice, since the 70s, the author contends, they have largely ceded the language of liberty to conservatives. The problem with this strategy is Read more

  • Humanitarianism of convenience?

    Good post from Digby on the humanitarian rationale for our latest war: We intervene in places in which we have large financial and strategic interests, period. It’s merely a convenience to attach a humanitarian label to it and persuade everyone that we are doing God’s work instead. Even the arguments for Iraq were all wrapped Read more

  • Friday Links

    –Iowa’s House approved a bill to make it illegal to film the goings on in factory farms; it still has to pass the Senate. –The great Midwestern backlash. –What is the difference between liberals and libertarians? –Rejecting death-centered Christianity. –The fondness some secular liberals have for fundamentalism. –More than half of Americans now favor legal Read more

  • Whither the liberal-libertarian alliance?

    Here’s an interesting post from the new(ish) blog Bleeding-Heart Libertarians: Here are some policy areas where classical liberals or libertarians seem to have a lot of common ground with those on the political left: • Immigration – Immigration is a net benefit to the receiving country and a matter of justice to would-be migrants. We Read more

  • Friday Links

    –Why unions are essential for the future of liberalism. –Maryland is very close to legalizing same-sex marriage. –Indiana is very close to passing a draconian, Arizona-style immigration law. –International aid groups appeal to Congress to restore funding for humanitarian aid. –A slideshow and discussion on the question “Is meat green?” –How much would a government Read more

  • The heart and soul of liberalism

    I highly recommend this Kevin Drum article from the latest issue of Mother Jones on the decline of unions and what it means for the prospects of liberalism in the U.S. Drum points out that organized labor’s waning influence coincided with skyrocketing economic inequality and contends that this has important lessons for liberalism’s long-term efforts Read more

  • Friday links

    –Augustinian and Pelagian software. –A John Polkinghorne lecture on science and religion. –Batman as plutocrat. –Korn and Limp Bizkit: the soundtrack to nihilism. –Martha Nussbaum on John Stuart Mill: between Bentham and Aristotle. –The disconnect between the science and economics of climate change. –Peter Berger, who describes himself as a political conservative and a theological Read more