What distribution of a nation's wealth is demanded by equal concern for all? Dworkin draws upon two fundamental humanist principles-first, it is of equal objective importance that all human lives flourish, and second, each person is responsible for defining and achieving the flourishing of his or her own life-to ground his well-known thesis that true equality means equality in the value of the resources that each person commands, not in the success he or she achieves. A legitimate government must treat all its citizens as equals, that is, with equal respect and concern, and, since the economic distribution that any society achieves is mainly the consequence of its system of law and policy, that requirement imposes serious egalitarian constraints on that distribution. In his new book Ronald Dworkin insists, to the contrary, that equality is the indispensable virtue of democratic sovereignty. Even left-of-center politicians reject equality as an ideal: government must combat poverty, they say, but need not strive that its citizens be equal in any dimension. Listen in for Matthew’s take on why we need right of center solutions to climate change and learn how we can prioritize both population growth and climate solutions in a way that moves America forward.Equality is the endangered species of political ideals. Matthew goes on to offer insight on the dysfunction of American federalism, discussing how a shared goal would create more constructive politics, and why it’s shortsighted to invoke climate change as an argument against population growth. He shares his liberal approach to this conservative idea, describing how immigration makes us stronger and what we can do to support families with children.

On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Matt joins Ross and Paul to discuss the premise of his book, explaining why it’s crucial for the US to grow its population and commit to keeping our #1 status in the world. Matthew Yglesias is the cofounder of Vox, host of The Weeds Podcast, journalist and author of the national bestseller, One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger. And any two priorities can be reconciled to craft a win-win, provided both sides accept the premise that we need to take action on climate change.

Can you advocate for climate solutions and dramatic population growth at the same time? Or are the two ideas mutually exclusive? Matthew Yglesias argues that while electoral politics is a zero-sum game, policy is not.

Matt yglesias book