Author: Matt Bruenig

Recently, President Obama dismissed the new Paul Ryan budget as social Darwinism. Paul Ryan’s budget slashes spending on social programs for the poor while simultaneously massively cutting taxes on the very wealthy. That is, relative to the present, it redistributes money from the poor to the rich. Paul Ryan has never specifically spelled out which… Continue reading Desert theory and social Darwinism

Identitarianism (aka identity politics) is a descriptive and prescriptive political framework that emphasizes the interests and perspectives of discrete identity groups. Gay rights, women’s rights, black rights, trans rights, and other similar movements push the interests of those identity groups. Some who operate within the identitarian framework often try to lump class issues into that… Continue reading Identitarianism’s class problem

When trying to understand conservative arguments, I keep in mind the three major philosophical frameworks they rely upon. Although I have written previously about these frameworks and rely upon my understanding of them frequently in my posts, I have never specifically explained where I think they go wrong. With any of the frameworks, one could… Continue reading The three conservative philosophical frameworks rebutted