No emotionally stable person viscerally likes inequality. Within both conservatives and liberals lives a strong distaste for what poverty does to people. Recognizing this universal revulsion, in The Quest for Cosmic Justice, Thomas Sowell wonders "why do... inequalities persist? Why are we not all united in our determination to put an end to them?" In the way of explanation, Sowell offers a quote by Economist Milton Friedman: A society that puts equality--in the sense of equality of outcome--ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests. The human suffering that existed in the Soviet Union and Mao's China illustrated the truth of Friedman's assertion. The social and economic price tags associated with forcibly redistributing life's outcomes are too high. So why do liberals...(Read Full Post)