Social Justice

Social Justice or Big Government?

Everyone seems to agree that progressives care about social justice, and the conversation has so far been about the different ways in which libertarians, too, care about social justice. But there are some dissonances. Take school vouchers. What social justice argument can anyone give against school vouchers? My colleagues at the law school invoke the Establishment clause, the separation of church and state. But that is not a social justice argument. Why can’t the Establishment clause be balanced against the imperative to help the poor? If their paramount value were social justice they should support vouchers. Yet the vehemence with which progressives oppose vouchers makes me suspicious that there is something else animating their view: not social justice, but support for big government, for strong unions, and the like. Am I being unfair? Any thoughts?

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