Sandel has raised a much-needed alarm, and even if how we respond to it may not be clear, respond we must. To do so, Sandel argues we need a serious public debate about what values we want our politics to build and defend. That means dropping the illusion that politics is about no more than efficient management of the economy: it’s about nothing less than competing visions of the good society.
ReadWhen we think about big egos, we tend to think of cocky alphas, those self-satisfied, arrogant cigar-chewing successes – always other people, of course. But forget about individuals for a moment. Does Homo sapiens, as a species, need to have an inflated sense of itself in order to succeed?
ReadAdrian Raine is surely right that we cannot ignore the evidence that points to the importance of neurological factors in violent crime. If he shouts a little too loudly about the brain’s role, it is because that voice needs to be heard. In The Anatomy of Violence, it comes across clearly, powerfully and often persuasively.
ReadLike modesty, humility is something that, if professed, is self-refuting. True humility is expressed in deeds, not words. The humble are those who truly walk the same ground as everyone else, not necessarily with grovelling, hunched backs but certainly not lording it over others either. What we need is more such genuine humility in public life, and hear less of it in extremis. The truly humble feel the ground beneath their feet every day and do not only become aware of it when held aloft or pushed down to their knees.
ReadHow can we, as adults, make promises on behalf of the people we will be in five, 10, 20 years or more?
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