Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like?

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This is a morally steadfast book, which liberalism's honest opponents should take for their target, and which will enliven liberal theory and perhaps even reinvigorate liberal political practice Daniel Markovits A rousing and original argument against hopelessness which will convince even the most jaded among us that a better public debate and a more just world are indeed within reach Ryan Avent A timely and thought-provoking look into society, Chandler's insights are much needed in today's world. F ree and Equal offers a well-written perspective on how we live today and provides hope in practical ways for economies to operate for the better in the future Rupal Patel I enjoyed reading this book, but it is rather odd and I wish it was different. The premise is to provide example applications of Rawls' philosophy to improve society (with a particular focus on the UK and US). As such the first couple of chapters explain the philosophy - essentially that there exist a set of universal basic liberties which the society must guarantee to every citizen, and then anything else is fair game so long as it doesn't infringe the basic liberties and its extent is such to maximize quality of life for the least well off. For example, following Rawls, a society may allow a certain amount of wealth inequality to encourage growth and innovation, but as soon as this is damaging to the least well off the wealth should be redistributed.

A beautifully clear, inspiring, wise book with the potential not only to reinvent liberalism, but to transform our societies for the better -- Johann Hari A brilliantly eloquent, incredibly insightful reimagining of liberalism, and by such a compelling writer Owen Jones Invaluable... Chandler takes a set of universal principles around fairness, based on the philosophy of John Rawls, and applies them to the real world of liberal democracy -- Sir Vince Cable, former leader of the Liberal Democrats The second half of the book focuses on how these principles can then be implemented in places like the UK and the US. While there are references to Rawls' philosophy, this reads more like a manifesto for change than a direct analysis of Rawls' ideas. While this is nice to read and the ideas are interesting, it somehow feels disconnected from the first part (and unnecessarily constrained by the fact that Chandler is supposed to be talking about Rawls). I would prefer to read a book by Chandler discussing ideas from a much larger collection of thinkers, rather than a selection of those which he can directly apply to Rawls' ideas. BORN FREE AND EQUAL: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE LOYAL JAPANESE-AMERICANS AT MANZANAR RELOCATION CENTER INYO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

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Adams, Ansel. BORN FREE AND EQUAL - THE STORY OF LOYAL JAPANESE-AMERICANS, U.S. Camera, NY, 1944. 1st editioon. Wraps, 112pp., text and photos by Adams. Stains to the cover, a loss at the foot of the spine, foxing and brownng throughout; still a serviceable copy of one of the earliest accounts of the internent of American citizens of Japanese descent during WWII. Clear, brave, compelling. This book shows how to put values at the heart of politics in a rigorous way, and is an important contribution to the future of progressive politics -- David Miliband Funder reveals how O’Shaughnessy Blair self-effacingly supported Orwell intellectually, emotionally, medically and financially ... why didn’t Orwell do the same for his wife in her equally serious time of need?’

A tremendous book, timely, wise, authoritative and clear. The world will fall on it like tired labourers falling on a tray of donuts Stephen Fry In this very timely and refreshing book, Daniel Chandler argues that rather than abandon liberalism we must reimagine it. Free and Equal asks big questions about how human society should be organised, and offers answers all of us should take seriously, whatever our politics -- Jesse Norman MP If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.

Rawls’ core ideas – that we should protect basic freedoms, promote equality of opportunity and improve the lot of the disadvantaged – do not represent such a radical break from the status quo