I was listening to something-or-other on NPR today, and, instead of characterizing the judges on the Supreme Court as liberal or conservative, a commentator characterized them as either more interested in liberty or more interested in equality.
I need to think about this. It's a distinction I haven't heard before, and it makes some sense... but it doesn't leave any room for the Religious Right, who aren't interested (as far as I can tell) in either.
It does offer another way of looking at the question, different from the "smart, but evil" vs. "good, but stupid" way I've been thinking for the past few years.
And it strikes me that, while I'm much more interested in equality than liberty, I'm also interested in liberty. It further strikes me that if we give up either, we soon won't have the other.
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