Abstract
This chapter observes that it is easy enough to attach the label of social justice to any demand and then to declare that justice must be pursued at all costs—Long Live Socialism! one might cry. But we live in a world of divergent political, ideological and philosophical beliefs, and rousing slogans will not suffice to guarantee peaceful coexistence or to create a just world. The chapter cautions against an unthinking egalitarianism which demands equal outcomes without regard to effort, merit, the broader welfare of society or fundamental human freedoms. The chapter argues that while everyone claims to value liberty, the true test of the importance we accord to liberty is the priority we confer upon it in our conceptualisation of justice.
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Notes
- 1.
Ibid., p. 29.
- 2.
‘The great mass of people do not inquire what will happen the day after tomorrow or later on. They think of today and, at most, of the next day. They do not ask what must follow if all other groups too, in the pursuit of their special interests, were to display the same unconcern for the general welfare.’ Mises, Liberalism, p. 137.
- 3.
Gordon, One Flew Over Equality.
- 4.
Bernstein, D. E., You Can’t Say That!
- 5.
Leoni, Freedom and the Law.
- 6.
‘Rhetorical bombast, music and song resound, banners wave, flowers and colors serve as symbols, and the leaders seek to attach their followers to their own person. Liberalism has nothing to do with all this. It has no party flower and no party color, no party song and no party idols, no symbols and no slogans. It has the substance and the arguments. These must lead it to victory’. Mises, Liberalism, p. 151.
- 7.
See discussion in Thomas, C. (2008). My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir. Harper Perennial.
- 8.
‘[Liberalism] promises special favours to no one. It demands from everyone sacrifices on behalf of the preservation of society. These sacrifices – or, more accurately, the renunciation of immediately attainable advantages – are, to be sure, merely provisional; they quickly pay for themselves in greater and more lasting gains. Nevertheless, for the time being, they are sacrifices.’ Ibid., p. 139.
- 9.
Epstein, Equal Opportunity or More Opportunity, p. 1.
- 10.
Ibid., p. 8.
- 11.
Ibid., p. 42.
- 12.
See discussion in Caldwell, The Age of Entitlement.
- 13.
Steele, S. (2018). A Sick Hunger for Racism. Hoover Digest, 158, p. 160.
- 14.
Let justice reign, so that the world will not perish: Mises, L. v. (1998). Human Action: A Treatise on Economics (p. 147). Martino Publishing (Original work published 1949).
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Njoya, W. (2021). Conclusion. In: Economic Freedom and Social Justice. Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84852-1_6
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