Offering nuanced ideas, Holmes (Political Science/Princeton and New
York Univ. Law School) and Sunstein (Law/Univ. of Chicago) defend
modern liberalism in the attention-getting guise of arguing for
taxation. Liberalism is at heart a system of rights designed to
promote and protect individual welfare and self-development. Yet
rights are also a "public good." Their well-being is dependent upon
the willingness of the community, through government, to protect
and enforce them. In turn, the community must also be willing to
give a portion of its collective assets in the form of taxes to the
government so that government may carry out its enforcement
responsibilities. In other words, rights cost money. A truism to be
sure, but one, the authors argue, ignored by most everyone.
Liberals, for instance, worry that focusing on the cost of rights
may lead to further cuts in budgetary allocations for the
protection of rights. Conservatives avoid looking at such costs as
it may reveal how dependent private wealth is, in the form of
myriad protections of private property, on government and
taxpayers' contributions. Nevertheless, thinking of rights in terms
of cost may reveal much. Arguments over competing rights are often
arguments over money; spending more on one right may mean spending
less on another. So how public resources are allocated can
substantially affect the scope and value of rights. This leads to
questions, all examined by the authors, of who decides what
resources are spent to protect what fights for the benefit of what
groups of individuals. We might want to examine if government
spending on rights protection benefits society overall or too often
only those groups with strong political influence. Holmes and
Sunstein conclude with a call for greater democratic accountability
in such spending and more public debate over the priority of
rights. Sure to hearten some and irritate others, this work is a
valuable contribution to our ongoing debate on rights and justice.
(Kirkus Reviews)
All legally enforceable rights cost money. A practical, commonsense
notion? Yes, but one ignored by almost everyone, from libertarian
ideologues to Supreme Court justices to human rights advocates. The
simple insight that rights are expensive reminds us that freedom is
not violated by a government that taxes and spends, but requires it
- and requires a citizenry vigilant about how money is allocated.
Laying bare the folly of some of our most cherished myths about
rights, this groundbreaking tract will permanently change the terms
of our most critical and contentious political debates.
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