USA as a “Failed Social Experiment”?

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“That’s coming from the Left. But prominent figures from the Right have been saying something similar. …Some conservatives are saying that our ideology of freedom has led to the destruction of the morality that is necessary for any society….Some conservative intellectuals have gone so far as to advocate a non-democratic authoritarian government.” - Gene Veith

Discussion

“...civil society—not the state—is where our ideas of the common good develop; even the state must draw such ideas from civil society”

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“The second fallacy is that before the state takes charge of our morals, it must be morally superior to us, and there’s no evidence it is. Quite the contrary: the record shows that when government takes command of personal morality, both the people and the state end up less moral, not more.” - Timothy Sandefur

Discussion

Adrian Vermeule’s Moral Madness

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“Regardless of his theocratic aspirations, Vermeule’s constitutional philosophy itself is nonsensical, given that it openly advocates the dissolution of the very constraints that characterize a constitutional order.

Discussion

Rejecting Vermeule’s Right-Wing Dworkinian Vision

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“…there is nothing in Professor Vermeule’s essay to suggest that it is the only reasonable approach to securing the common good. More importantly, there are sound reasons to believe that the United States, through its written Constitution, chose a different—also reasonable—approach” - Law & Liberty

Discussion

“Vermeule’s argument is primarily a question about what conservative political philosophy should look like”

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“[Vermeule argues that] the Constitution’s most abstract language should be interpreted as affording the government almost entirely unconstrained power over its citizens, a sort of blank check for the exercise of political authority as the sovereign sees fit. But can that practice of interpretation be justified on theological grounds?” - John Ehrett

Discussion