The battle is joined
By Jim Dallas
Noam Scheiber (via Amy Sullivan) - Democratic libertarianism bad!:
Far more interesting--and politically more consequential--is an emerging Democratic split between social libertarians, who emphasize privacy, and what I'll call communitarians, for lack of a better word. Like social conservatives, the communitarians believe the government has a role to play in Schiavo-like dilemmas. If they prevail, it could help the Democratic Party reclaim its popular majority.
William Galston - Democratic libertarianism good!:
Undermining the conservative vision of freedom is the essential first step for a liberal recovery. But no movement ever built a governing majority just by criticizing its adversaries. To regain the initiative, liberals must return to their historic mission of modernizing and promoting freedom.
To be sure, Scheiber and Galston are taking this from slightly different angles, and there's probably much they can agree on. That said, are you ready to RUMBLE!?!?
... and silly me, I forget to reference Greg's Opinion.
Posted by Jim Dallas at April 13, 2005 10:37 PM
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Not sure I agree there's a debate there.
For starters, Galston notes two types of freedoms: freedom FROM and freedom TO. He advocates the importance of both, That freedom FROM is typically the domain of the communitarian side, the freedom TO typically being the domain of the libertarian side.
Secondly, begin a Galston follower for a number of years, his views on any communitarian vs libertarian duel are more inclined to side with the communitarian side.
