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September 12, 2004
philosophy.com has few Australian readers interested in political philosophy, and there are few philosophically informed weblogs in Australia. So it is always very heartening when a new one arrives on the local scene.
This is one. Don Arthur's Wealth for Toil. Don has writing since June but I have only just noticed. So I have been reading the archives and came across this post. In it Don says:
"The left struggles to achieve two things:
to reduce inequalities of status, power, and wealth; and
to prevent inequality in one sphere from translating into inequality in another.
Egalitarianism is the defining feature of the left. It is what all leftist projects have in common. The only thing that unites the right is its opposition to equality. It is the only reason groups like religious fundamentalists and economic liberals can find common ground."
These are then spelt out.
I'm not so sure. It would be equality plus sustainability these days. We do not want a just (ie. an equal society) that is premised on unsustainable economic growth, which rips the guts out of the country. That is social democracy.
Few social democrats ask the question: equality for what? Equality is taken to be an end in itself, rather than a means to achieve the good life (a flourishing life well lived).
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