"Does Political Liberty Require Social Liberalism?" (w/ Stephanie Slade)

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One of the difficult, and interesting, questions a system of political liberty needs to deal with is how to approach differing conceptions of what the good life looks like and how people ought to behave.

We can say that the government shouldn’t interfere in people’s lifestyle choices, but does that mean we should also say that being pro-liberty means being pro- every choice people might make, as long as it’s peaceful?

My guest today is Stephanie Slade (@sladesr), a senior editor at Reason Magazine. She recently published an article about whether a commitment to political and economic liberty necessarily entails a commitment to and celebration of social liberalism and cultural progressivism.

Stephanie and I diverge in some ways in how we answer that question. Which makes it an important discussion to have.

We talk about whether libertarianism is only a political project, or if it’s an ethical one, too.

We talk about the role of social conservatism in a free society, how both the left and the right are too quick to use the state to enforce their social preferences, and how we can have a more tolerant world and more just world if we’d all just mutually disarm a little.

ReImagining Liberty is a project of The UnPopulist, and is produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte.

Music: Finding the Balance by Kevin MacLeod | Link | License