American society Quote by Allen W. Wood
““Western capitalist society, and especially my own American society, is one characterized by great inequalities. In any such society, by the nature of the case, the greatest threat to rightful freedom is always the wealth and power of the privileged. The chief task of the state in protecting human freedom should always be to use rightful state coercion to limit the freedom of the powerful and privileged to infringe the rightful freedom of the less privileged and the vulnerable. Political struggles in the modern world are usually fundamentally struggles about whether state power will be used to protect the rightful freedom of all, or instead used to protect the wrongful freedom of the wealthy, powerful, and privileged. Wide social inequality necessarily indicates that these struggles have come out the wrong way, on behalf of the unjust and oppressive freedom of the privileged against the rightful freedom of the majority.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Political Philosophy, 2022
State must limit privileged power to protect freedom of the vulnerable; inequality signals misuse of power.
In simple terms: Limit the powerful to protect the many.
Key Takeaway
Support equitable state policies.
Themes
justice
inequality
state power
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
academic
philosophical
When to use this quote
- legislation
- tax reform
- social welfare
- activism
Key Concepts
political theory
human rights
Questions to Reflect On
- What mechanisms can ensure state power protects the vulnerable?
- How to address entrenched inequality?
A Different Perspective
Balancing state coercion and liberty is complex.
![“The critique of social inequality, which is very much a part of my story, came about naturally from my recollection of Huck and Tom and the controversy surrounding [Mark] Twain's use of them and from my own passionate interest in civil rights, animal rights, and the right of Earth to survive…” quote by Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/26b/norman-lock-21222_animal_the-critique-of-social-inequality-which_145721.jpg)
![“The Sexual plight of these children [those adolescents experimenting sexually] is officially not mentioned. The revolutionary attack on hypocrisy by Ibsen, Freud, Ellis, Dreiser, did not succeed this far. Is it an eccentric opinion that an important part of the kids' restiveness in school from the…” quote by Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b5b/paul-goodman-7755_american-society_the-sexual-plight-of-these-children-thos_88140.jpg)
