Synopsis
A conservative critique arguing that attempts to redress all of life's inequities through state power sacrifice real freedom for an unattainable ideal.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted workSeeking to correct every disparity caused by birth, luck, and history demands a power so total that it destroys the freedom it claims to serve.
It contrasts the modest aim of equal rules with the boundless aim of equal outcomes, warning that the latter requires unchecked authority.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with John Rawls, A Theory of Justice.
Reading note
Read Sowell for his sharp conceptual contrast, weighing whether his stark either-or fairly captures the aims of social-justice advocates.
Best paired with
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice