Thinkers in both “camps” have not only challenged the underlying idea of the split but created theory that unified both liberal and socialist principles.
Samantha Hancox-Li and guest David Lay Williams, author of The Greatest of All Plagues, discuss the nature of extreme wealth inequality in America and across history, from Plato to Occupy Wall Street. Williams argues that extreme wealth warps the soul, leading to "pleonexia"—a restless desire for more and more that will never be fulfilled. Reducing wealth inequality is therefore not about redistribution or envy, but rather self-protection against overweening power.
David Lay Williams is Professor of Political Science at DePaul University and an affiliate at the University of Chicago’s Stone Center for Research on Economic Inequality and Mobility. He is the author of The Greatest of All Plagues (Princeton, 2024)
Thinkers in both “camps” have not only challenged the underlying idea of the split but created theory that unified both liberal and socialist principles.
