For reference, below are links to my four-part critique of Cass Sunstein’s 2023 essay “Why I am a liberal” as well as links to my four-part review of Philip K. Howard’s 2024 book Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society:

CRITIQUE OF CASS SUNSTEIN’S FAUX LIBERALISM

1. What is liberalism, and does it matter?
2. Why Cass Sunstein is a faux liberal (part 2)
3. The hypocrisy of Cass Sunstein? (part 3)
4. The ethics of liberalism

REVIEW OF PHILIP K. HOWARD’S EVERYDAY FREEDOM

1. Howard’s tautology, part 1 of 4
2. Howard’s rhetorical rabbit, part 2 of 4
3. What Howard gets right, part 3 of 4
4. What Howard gets wrong, part 4 of 4

FINAL THOUGHTS

Sunstein says he is a “liberal” and against “tribalism”, while Howard says he is for “everyday freedom” and against “red tape”, but in reality — for the reasons I provide in the links above — both are at bottom paternalistic do-gooders who, instead of leaving us alone, want to nudge us in their preferred directions to do x, y, or z (take your pick). Among other things, my critique of Cass Sunstein (especially paragraph #5, quoted below) applies just as much to Howard as it does to Sunstein:

The problem with invoking [‘everyday freedom’] as a value is that all laws, by definition, restrict liberty to a lesser or greater extent, depending on the evil the law is designed to remediate. As a result, the question is not whether [we are] ‘for’ or ‘against’ freedom in the abstract. The real issue instead is, when [are we] prepared to limit the liberty of some actors in order to promote some other important value, such as public health or public safety? Simply invoking a general concept like [‘everyday freedom’] is of no real help when we are called to weigh and make difficult real-world tradeoffs.