“As such, they tried to design the constitution to protect ‘private rights’ against factions, even if those factions include the majority of the population.”
“American taste for retribution might have come from the frontier and the need to protect goods when property rights are uncertain. Alternatively, it is possible that two world wars, and awful experiences with fascist regimes, have discredited vengeful punishment in Europe.”
-
-
“People who have themselves risen from poverty are more likely to think that the poor can do it as well, and therefore are only on welfare because they are cheating the system.”
Show this thread -
“There is an extremely strong relationship between supporting capital punishment and opposing welfare in the US.”
Show this thread -
“More religious Americans and Protestant Americans are more likely to oppose increased spending on welfare. Protestantism is also linked to the belief that success results from effort.”
Show this thread -
“Sixty percent of American respondents say that the poor are lazy. Twenty-six percent of Europeans say that the poor are lazy.”
Show this thread -
“The upheaval in continental Europe over the last century has meant that there were no durable institutions which could protect property against popular demand for redistribution.”
Show this thread -
“Racial fragmentation in the US and the disproportionate representation of minorities among the poor has clearly played a major role in stopping rich-poor redistribution within the US, and, indeed, across the world racial cleavages seem to serve as a barrier to redistribution.”
Show this thread -
“Our bottom line is that Americans redistribute less than Europeans because the majority believes that redistribution favors racial minorities”
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.
at
retweets