New post at Policy Shop. Excerpt: The debates about free higher education are fertile ground for the operation of the zero illusion. Mike Konczal, for instance, has long been pushing the idea that free public higher education is a goal worth striving for because a free public option would drive down tuition in other institutions… Continue reading Policy Shop: Free Higher Education and the Zero Illusion
Policy Shop: Why So-Called Consumption Inequality Misses the Point
New post at policy shop. Excerpt: So the consumption metric is a ridiculous distraction. Not only does it turn out that consumption inequality has mirrored income inequality over the last few decades, but the focus also misses so many of the things that income is about. Of course, the conservatives who bring it up do… Continue reading Policy Shop: Why So-Called Consumption Inequality Misses the Point
Policy Shop: Ramping Up the War on the Poor
New post at policy shop. Excerpt: The coming indignities do not stop at cutting food assistance. As the New York Times explained on Friday, the refusal of many GOP governors to expand Medicaid as part of Obamacare is scheduled to generate absurd and unsettling scenarios for the poor. As Obamacare comes on line, a gap… Continue reading Policy Shop: Ramping Up the War on the Poor
What kinds of war tactics are justified for those resisting US/UK invasions?
I wrote about just war theory and the principle of non-combatant immunity in my last post. The argument was that the feudal-era justification for non-combatant immunity that comes out of just war theory does not make much sense when applied to citizens of liberal governments. It was an abstract discussion with only a passing discussion… Continue reading What kinds of war tactics are justified for those resisting US/UK invasions?
Just war theory and the UK soldier killing
About three years ago, I became interested in just war theory, a long-running literature about what makes warfare just. As you’d expect, the field has diverse opinions ranging from pacifists who say war is never just to realists who think talking about justice in the context of warfare is wrong-headed to begin with. In between… Continue reading Just war theory and the UK soldier killing