Anarchists and other leftists in the United States have seized upon an unfortunate procedural justice crutch: community consensus. That is, they have decided to locate justice in decision-making processes, and have lifted up community consensus as the only just way to go. The community consensus approach puts forward the following principle: everyone that is affected… Continue reading The problem with the community consensus approach
Author: Matt Bruenig
Purity leftism
One of the most frustrating things about being on the left is the profound number of clowns who situate themselves beside me. We’ve got generational warfare clowns. We’ve got New Age gibberish clowns. We’ve got conspiracy theory clowns. And of course, we’ve got hippie drum circle clowns. I call these, and others, clowns because their… Continue reading Purity leftism
Line-by-line rebuttal of Robert Applebaum’s student debt comments
Robert Applebaum, creator of forgivestudentloandebt.com, has positioned himself as an authority of sorts in the student loan debate. I came upon his editorial in The Hill today, and I was frankly surprised by just how misleading and incorrect much of his argument was. Applebaum first identifies what he believes is the culprit of higher tuition:… Continue reading Line-by-line rebuttal of Robert Applebaum’s student debt comments
Student debt and stimulus
This is really low-hanging fruit, but since I have now seen it a half dozen times, I thought I would quickly address it. Some are arguing that forgiving student loan would be a good stimulus plan: Forgiving student loan debt would have an immediate stimulating effect on the economy. Responsible people who did nothing other… Continue reading Student debt and stimulus
Social Security and confusion about savings
More than anything else, the unique dynamic surrounding money creates confusion in people. Whatever one thinks of Marx generally, his sociological theory of commodity fetishism seems true. In an economy driven by money and commodities, it is easy to forget the actual relationships that underlie production and consumption. For instance, people seem to think that… Continue reading Social Security and confusion about savings