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Abundance Has a Theory of Power – People's Policy Project

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In the New York Times, Ezra Klein responded to critics who accuse him of not having a theory of power: My view of power is more classically liberal. In his book “Liberalism: The Life of an Idea,” Edmund Fawcett describes it neatly: “Human power was implacable. It could never be relied on to behave well. Whether political, economic or social, superior power of some people over others tended inevitably to arbitrariness and domination unless resisted and checked.” To take this view means power will be ill used by your friends as well as by your enemies, by your political opponents as well as by your neighbors. From this perspective, there are no safe reservoirs of power. Corporations sometimes serve the national interest and sometimes betray it. The same is true for governments, for unions, for churches, for nonprofits. A lot is lost when you collapse the complex interests of politics into a simple morality play. There are often different corporations on different sides of the same issue.

In the New York Times , Ezra Klein responded to critics who accuse him of not having a theory of power: My view of power is more classically liberal. In his book “Liberalism: The Life of an Idea,” Edmund Fawcett describes it neatly: “Human power was implacable. It could never be relied on to behave well. Whether political, economic or social, superior power of some people over others tended inevitably to arbitrariness and domination unless resisted and checked.” To take this view means power will be ill used by your friends as well as by your enemies, by your political opponents as well as by

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