Archive for the ‘Liberals’ Category

The West vs. the world? – The Week

March 16, 2022

March 16, 2022

The invasion of Ukraine is only in its third week and far from resolution. But it's already launched thousands of essays, podcasts, and tweets. While the inhabitants of Mariupol, Kyiv, and other cities face bombardment, writers and scholars in the peaceful capitals of North America and Europe lob words at each other. As we try to figure out what it all means, it's important to remember the difference between intellectual if not always civil disagreement and the reality of war and enmity.

In the spirit of honesty, I should acknowledge that some of those salvos were mine. The day after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the commencement of operations, I published a column proclaiming the end of the so-called liberal international order (or its common synonyms). That argument provoked a critical response from my colleague David Faris. Noting the coordination and severity of American, European, and NATO responses, Faris contended that the basic premise of the post-Cold War politics that interstate aggression is wrong and must be punished remains in place.

It's fair to conclude that reports of liberalism's death have turned out to be premature. The Stanford historian Stephen Kotkin and other scholars have argued that the last few weeks have exposed the gap between Russian aspirations and capabilities.Even if Russia defeats Ukrainian forces in the field, thatlesson may infuence other states that hope to dominate hostile territory. Although the available reports are hard to assess, it appears that the Chinese Communist Party is worried about the implications of Russia's unanticipated political and military struggles for its own efforts to capture Taiwan.

But there's also a sense in which eulogists for the liberal world order and optimists about its prospects can both be partly right. One of the notable features of international opposition to Russian is how limited it is. China's not the only player to opt out of sanctions. India, Brazil, and (until recently) even Israel, have objected to aspects of the campaign to isolate Russia.

Rather than an assertion of global liberalism, we may be seeing the return of a concept that's become unfashionable over the last few decades. In an underappreciated recent book, historian Michael Kimmage shows how "the West" became a central concept in American foreign policy for much of the 20th century before falling into disrepute. The whole point of the "new world order" announced by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 was that liberal practices and ideals would no longer be associated with one culture or region. Instead, they would become truly global norms and universal rights, administered partly, if not entirely, by transnational institutions.

That's the expectation, perhaps utopian, the Russian invasion and varied responses around the world seems to refute. Some states mostly, if not exclusively those linked to the Western alliance of the 20th century reject Russian aggression and the vision of great power competition that inspires it. But others, including population and economic giants, are either morally indifferent or give precedence to other interests.

Yet the popularity and sometimesirrational intensity of opposition to Russia in the "Anglosphere" and Europe suggests a residual solidarity that belies the revival of illiberal nationalism within those regions. As William Galston observed in The Wall Street Journal, Western admirers of Putin including Italy's Matteo Salvini, France's Eric Zemmour, and our Donald Trump have all had to distance themselves from the Russian dictator in the face of overwhelming criticism even from their own supporters. Ordinary Americans and Europeans with populist sympathies, who were far from philosophical liberals before the invasion, haven't turned into Kantians overnight, and it's naive to imagine they ever will. But many hold assumptions about the purposes of violence and requirements of political legitimacy that are implicit in liberal societies and questionable or even alien outside them.

In more abstract terms, then, we may be witnessing an emerging synthesis between two rival theories that captivated political intellectuals in the beginning of the period of hegemonic liberalism that now seems to be in its twilight. One was the "end of history" thesis developed by Francis Fukuyama. Contrary to popular misinterpretations, Fukuyama did not claim that the resolution of the Cold War meant nothing unpleasant, difficult, or surprising would ever happen again. What he did argue was that there were no longer systematic alternatives to liberal democracy capable of achieving broad popular support.

Fukuyama was challenged by his former teacher Samuel Huntington. According to Huntington, the future would not be characterized by consensus around liberal institutions and human rights, but rivalry between distinct cultural groups. That rivalry was likely to turn violent at "bloody borders" at the overlapping periphery of those civilizations that is, places like Eastern Europe.

But what if they're both right? In other words, what if the West really has reached the end of history but other parts of the world are following a different script? That would involve closer ties, even homogenization, among liberal states bad news for advocates of sharply differentiated national identities. At the same time, the influence of that quasi-integrated bloc over the rest of the world might diminish as rivals develop their own cultural, economic, and military resources, contrary to liberal hopes. That could lead to new and different conflicts in the future, increasing strife while belying neat distinctions between democracies and autocracies. To different degrees, India and China both support Russia. But they don't exactly get along with each other.

Writing in The New York Times, journalist Thomas Meaney recently consideredthe limitations and risks of this scenario. He noted that the boundaries of the West are, at best, fuzzy (I made a partial attempt at definition here); that the concept tends to subordinate Europe to the United States; and that appeals to civilizational differences can exacerbate conflict and justify atrocities. In themselves, all these criticisms are fair enough. But the fact that countries including Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, India, and of course China have been so skeptical of American and Europeans efforts to constrain Russia underscores the continuing relevance of the idea of the West rather than demonstrating the availability of some alternative form of truly cosmopolitan affinity. History may not be over, but the West is likely to stick around for a while.

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The West vs. the world? - The Week

Pamplin professor explores psychology of welfare politics – EurekAlert

Recent political history has shown that United States conservative leaders tend to vote against the expansion of federal welfare, or social safety net, programs. But are conservative-leaning citizens less likely than their liberal-leaning peers to enroll in said programs and accept aid for themselves?

Thats the question that Virginia Techs Shreyans Goenka answered with his recentlypublished research, Are Conservatives Less Likely Than Liberals to Accept Welfare? The Psychology of Welfare Politics.

This research shows that conservatives are less likely than liberals to enroll in federal welfare programs only when the welfare program does not have a work requirement policy, said Goenka.

Shreyans Goenkais an assistant professor of marketing in the Pamplin College of Business. His research investigates consumer morality. He examines how moral beliefs shape consumption preferences and economic patterns. In doing so, his research produces implications for understanding how morality can help inform policy decisions, marketing positioning strategies, and prosocial campaigns.

The researchers analyzed how participation rates in the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, was influenced by a change in the work requirement policy. When SNAP had a work requirement from 2005-08, the Republican-leaning states and Democratic-leaning states recorded similar levels of welfare participation. However, when the work requirement was waived from 2009-13, the Republican-leaning states recorded lower levels of welfare participation than the Democratic-leaning states.

Follow-up controlled experiments show that conservatives believe it is morally wrong to accept welfare if they are not contributing back to society in some manner.

Conservatives tend to believe that accepting welfare without reciprocal work can make them a burden on society, explained Goenka. Therefore, conservatives are less likely than liberals to enroll in welfare programs without work requirements.

Importantly, the research also shows how policymakers can utilize marketing messaging strategies to boost conservatives' welfare participation.

When welfare brochures highlight how welfare programs can serve the interest of society as whole, conservatives welfare enrollment increases, added Goenka. Policymakers can utilize this research to redesign welfare marketing materials and boost participation in welfare programs.

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research

Are Conservatives Less Likely Than Liberals to Accept Welfare? The Psychology of Welfare Politics

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Pamplin professor explores psychology of welfare politics - EurekAlert

When it comes to emissions, Liberals will choose the practical not the purist route – Toronto Star

Should Canada be purist or practical when it comes to climate change?

Over the next few weeks, there will be some key indications about which path the federal Liberals will choose, and the smart money is on the practical despite pressure from some environmentalists.

Of course, the energy security problems raised by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and attempts to embargo Russian energy heavily favour the practical approach.

The world is looking to Canadian oil and gas producers to increase their production right now in the hopes of offsetting some of the strain of high prices and cutting off Russian supplies, even if it means emissions wont go down as much as hoped.

But theres more to the practical approach than geopolitics.

In a paper to be published this week after two years of looking for a consensus among industry, government, environmentalists and Indigenous communities, the Public Policy Forum argues that a purist approach would just hurt too much.

Two overarching visions of the energy transition are competing for the hearts and minds of Canadians, say lead authors Ed Greenspon, who heads the PPF, and Wayne Wouters, the former clerk of the Privy Council and now a strategic policy adviser at McCarthy Tetrault LLP.

The purist approach an accelerated phaseout of oil and gas, replacing it quickly with renewables and clean electricity risks disrupting the way we live, our jobs and our international relations, they say.

On the other hand, a practical approach an aggressive decarbonization that promotes renewables and clean energy while cutting emissions from oil and gas would be more conducive to a smooth transition for workers and investors, and open the door to a boom in private-sector activity supported by public-sector measures.

But in order to make it work, says Wouters, we have to be all in large emitters, policy-makers, taxpayers, consumers, investors and Indigenous communities. And we have to be organized, setting out strategies that will carry us through the next decades despite election cycles and the Conservative leadership race that is throwing climate policy into question, he added in an interview.

The paper goes on to outline the many steps that need to be taken in order to wrestle our emissions to the ground, from mass electrification to mass marketing in order to sell consumers and the world on the benefits. A transparent price on carbon is only the beginning.

The ideas are frequent refrains in the speeches we hear from government and business leaders. To make them real, though, the decisions in the next few weeks are central.

By law, the government needs to produce the first instalment of its plan to meet Canadas 2030 emissions targets by the end of March. And in the first half of April, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table the federal budget, which will include substantive new measures to fight climate change.

The telling move will come in what those documents say about carbon capture and storage (CCS). By capturing the carbon dioxide that comes from producing things like oil, gas, cement or steel, and then storing it underground, the technology could allow the continued use of fossil fuels with a much lower emissions profile.

Last years budget promised to create an investment tax credit to encourage companies to build CCS facilities, and this years budget is widely expected to set out the parameters of that measure.

The thing is, purists dont like CCS. A group of 400 academics wrote recently to Freeland saying tax credits are akin to subsidies for oil and gas, breaking our international commitments and prolonging our dependence on fossil fuels.

The federal government looks like it will go ahead with the measure anyway. It has consulted widely and is clearly in the midst of crafting policy. On Monday, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson co-wrote an opinion column for the National Observer, touting the benefits of carbon capture and storage.

But whether the government decides to go big or go small will be a clear indication of whether it is bending towards the practical or the purist route to climate change.

Alberta wants the tax credit to cover up to 75 per cent of eligible investments, but the current system of tax credits for research and development applies to just 35 per cent. The new credit will probably fall somewhere in between, in true Canadian style not quite going all in, but signalling support for ongoing long-term oil and gas production all the same.

That would make sense in todays environment.

Oil prices are sky high, and so are profits. With Canadas carbon price set to climb steeply and capital markets around the world rewarding companies that transition to low carbon, there are already incentives in place to push companies towards cutting emissions. A tax credit will help too, but it doesnt need to carry the entire burden.

Regardless, its only a start on the many things business and government will have to do together if they want a practical approach to climate change to succeed. Electrification alone will cost many, many billions in private and public money, and the plan to find that money is scattered and nebulous.

A signal on carbon capture and storage is one thing, and a full-blown vision to steer the economy, the public, and politics towards a net-zero world is another.

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When it comes to emissions, Liberals will choose the practical not the purist route - Toronto Star

Quebec Liberals want to suspend taxes on electricity and nix QST on some basic necessities – CTV News Montreal

Quebec Liberal leader Dominique Anglade proposed on Sunday to lift the QST on electricity bills "up to $4,000" on a temporary basis.

"The cost of living situation is extremely difficult for everyone," she told a news conference in Montreal, citing economic uncertainty, high inflation and the Ukrainian conflict. "It's not a luxury in Quebec to have heat and electricity."

Criticizing Premier Francios Legault's decision, which in 2019 indexed the rates of Hydro-Quebec to inflation, she proposed to "put a freeze" on them.

The rates were frozen in 2020, but must be indexed from 2021 to 2024.

The consumer price index inflation rate was 5.1 per cent in January, according to the Bank of Canada.

The official opposition leader also wants to abolish once and for all the provincial tax on certain necessities, such as soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and non-prescription drugs.

In total, she estimates that these measures would cost the government $1.5 billion, but she says the additional revenues generated over the past year are more than enough to cover the new expenses.

Anglade called on the premier to "take the proposal we are making today and apply it to the budget."

The budget is scheduled for March 22.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 13, 2022.

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Quebec Liberals want to suspend taxes on electricity and nix QST on some basic necessities - CTV News Montreal

Gingrich: If GOP Retakes the House, 1/6 Committee Members …

The 2022 midterms are here. Its likely that the Republican Party retakes the House and possibly the Senate. With Bidens appalling approval numbers and the likelihood that not much else is going to get done on the Hill, Democrats face a thin record to sell to voters who only see inflation rising, a supply chain crisis that remains out of control, and a president who is totally aloof. The Democrats only have a four-seat majority in the House. Its going red. So, what will be the fate of the January 6 Select Committee? It should be trashed. I think it will since we all know its a Democratic Party circus being used as a fundraising ploy. Its also a shoddy and transparent push to convict Trump onsomething to prevent him from running for president again. The irony is the more aggressive this committee gets on their January 6 hysterics; it only increases the likelihood that Trump runs out of spite. Yet, former Speaker Newt Gingrich went even further, suggesting that the committee members could be jailed for their involvement in the anti-Trump witch hunt (via Newsweek):

Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, responded with a warning after prominent Republican Newt Gingrich suggested that members of the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack against the U.S. Capitol could face jail time if the GOP returns to power.

Gingrich, who served as House Speaker from 1995 to 1999, made the remarks during an interview with Fox News on Sunday morning. He predicted what will happened to the January 6 committee if Republicans take control of Congress. "The wolves are gonna find out that they're now sheep, and they're the ones whoin fact, I thinkface a real risk of jail for the kind of laws they're breaking," Gingrich said.

Cheney, a staunch Trump critic, serves as the vice-chair of the House select committee investigating the January 6 violence. She tweeted a response to Gingrich's threat later on Sunday.

Yeah, I dont know about jail, but if remarks like this ruffle the feathers of liberals and anti-Trump RepublicansIm all for it. And Liz Cheney is the perfect person to fall for this because shes just obsessed with de-Trumping the GOP. Its not going to happen, Liz. Maybe that will sink in when you get primaried out of your seat. Leaving out the straight to jail aspect of this, the committee has been saddled with eye roll-worthy moments. The texts that Mark Meadows turned over would probably bear more weight if key members of the committee didnt peddle doctored versions of them. The credibility of this whole act was shoddy, to begin with, and Democrats spewing fake texts just embodies the ethos around this whole production. The truth doesnt matter if Trump goes down. Hes not. How many times have we heard that the walls are closing in, and nothing happens?

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Gingrich: If GOP Retakes the House, 1/6 Committee Members ...