David Lay Williams

@laywilliams.bsky.social

7.6K followers 870 following 1.5K posts

Political theorist at DePaul and author of The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx (Princeton, 2024). Essays in NY Times, Washington Post, Time, Bloomberg, etc. Jazz Guitar, New York Mets. .. more

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Philosophy 36%

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David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · Sep 3

After a decade's labor, it is finally book-release day for "The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx." I'm both relieved and excited to see this day arrive. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

The Greatest of All Plagues

How the great political thinkers have persistently warned against the dangers of economic inequality

press.princeton.edu

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 1d

Promoting the Evanston Township High School Jazz Festival! A great opportunity to see the incredible Sean Jones and support local talent development at the same time. If you're in Chicagoland, strongly encouraging you to come!

www.onthestage.tickets/show/evansto...

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 1d

Honored to have my book listed among @durlauf.bsky.social's top 10 "especially valuable" books of the past three years.

Thread by @sndurlauf on Thread Reader App

@sndurlauf: 10 books on aspects of inequality published over the last 3 years that I have found especially valuable. 1. Guido Alfani, As Gods Among Men: A History of the Rich in the West Splendid long...

threadreaderapp.com

Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Michael A. Clemens, Maarten Vink , and 3 more Scott L. Greer, Michael A. Clemens, Maarten Vink, Kevin Kenny, Farah Mendlesohn, David Lay Williams

Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 2d

The final set of corrections to the galleys just went in. I guess whether I (or you) like it or not, the book is coming on March 10, 2026.

Pre-order info here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Page proof cover of "Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship--African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants" by Anna O. Law, Oxford University Press

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 3d

For years, conservatives have insisted that we respect the "wisdom of the Founders." Well, here is their man directly contravening the considered wisdom of the most revered of Founders, James Madison, in his celebrated Federalist No. 10.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...

President Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his “own morality,” brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world.

Asked in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Mr. Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

By what means is this object attainable? Evidently by one of two only. Either the existence of the same passion or interest in a majority at the same time must be prevented, or the majority, having such coexistent passion or interest, must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression. If the impulse and the opportunity be suffered to coincide, we well know that neither moral nor religious motives can be relied on as an adequate control. They are not found to be such on the injustice and violence of individuals, and lose their efficacy in proportion to the number combined together, that is, in proportion as their efficacy becomes needful.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 3d

Paul, following up to say I'll be elaborating on this point concerning envy in a new piece to be published on the @lseblogs.bsky.social shortly.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks, hoping you enjoy it!

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 4d

Just a little timely.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 4d

All the sensible people around the world need to come together on this issue at put an end to the insanity. This stuff has no place in a decent world.

Decoherence Media @decoherence.media · 4d

BREAKING: X’s chatbot Grok isn’t just making AI porn deepfakes, it’s now making Nazi AI porn deepfakes, undressing women and showing them wearing “swastika bikinis”. Many of these women are Jewish, including a recently deceased Holocaust survivor.

Elon Musk’s “Grok” is undressing women and showing them in swastika bikinis

One woman targeted is a Jewish Holocaust survivor

decoherence.media

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Michael A. Clemens , and 9 more Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Michael A. Clemens, Amir Attaran, Arnaud Mercier, Anders Nilsson, Michael D. McDonald, Sam Kamin, Olivier Mannoni, Manisha Sinha, David Spurrett, David Lay Williams

Decoherence Media @decoherence.media · 4d

Elon Musk’s “Grok” is undressing women and showing them in swastika bikinis

One woman targeted is a Jewish Holocaust survivor

decoherence.media

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 4d

Congrats to the Texas Legislature and their lackeys in state university administrative posts -- they are finally succeeding in canceling Western Civilization!

AAUP Texas A&M-College Station Chapter @tamu-aaup.bsky.social · 5d

From an email to one of our faculty members....

Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 4d

Can you please elaborate on what you mean by "unseen passages"? Thanks!

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 5d

As E.E. Schattschneider once quipped, the "heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper-class accent."

Supreme Court Increasingly Favors the Rich, Economists Say

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Lisa W. Fazio, Ben H. Ansell , and 48 more Stephen M. Walt, Lisa W. Fazio, Ben H. Ansell, Brendan Nyhan, Gavin A. Schmidt, Wolfgang Crämer, Richard Price, Tom Clark, Scott L. Greer, Robert W. Wallace, Steven S. Smith, American Library Association, Helen King, Bruce D. Baker, Ryan Enos, Kevin Carey, Felicity Callard, Robert C. Richards, Michelle Dion, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, McKenzie Wark, Adrian Daub, Caroline T. Schroeder, Jacob T. Levy, Nazita Lajevardi, Margot C. Finn, Samantha Brennan, Anne Norton, Brian Keegan, Paulo Drinot, Mark Rice, Brian Weatherson, Susan Strasser, Andrew Rudalevige, Nathan Richardson, Judith Pollmann, Sean P. Corcoran, Klaus Oschema, Daxton R. Stewart, Aviel Roshwald, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Susan D. Amussen, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Virginia Sapiro, Clark Gray, David Spurrett, David Lay Williams, David Darmofal

AAUP Texas A&M-College Station Chapter @tamu-aaup.bsky.social · 5d

From an email to one of our faculty members....

Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 6d

No argument there.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 6d

So many essays of this nature, but they all focus on INCOME inequality rather than WEALTH inequality. Look at all of the canonical thinkers on economic inequality (e.g., Plato, Rousseau, Mill, etc.) -- none of them focus on income. They all focus on wealth.

Why America’s inequality story doesn’t add up

America doesn't actually have an inequality problem. What we have is a measurement problem.

reason.com

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 6d

I would defend DePaul alumnus, Joe Keery.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 6d

"Modern Political Thought" and "Inequality in Western Civ".

Reposted by Anna O. Law

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 6d

Winter 2026 term—let’s do this!

Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 9d

Cover reveal. It's about how & why colonies/states controlled international & domestic migration until 1888, why in the late 19th c the feds took over, & what it was like for politically disfavored groups to live under that arrangement of power. You can't understand voluntary migration history 1/

Cream colored book cover of Anna O. Law's Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship--African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants with a human figure behind an American flag

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Stormy @littlebigstormy.bsky.social · 10d

First read of 2026

David Lay Williams

The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought From Plato to Marx

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 11d

One hundred times over, this. I'm all about reading great books, and no one should assume they amount to some kind of indoctrination program. The point is to get students thinking about the big questions, which is what these books excel at. Every college student deserves this.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 14d

Yikes!

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 14d

Or even my least favorite customer support person?

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 15d

The administration is suing a professional jazz musician . . . for $1 million. Maybe Miles Davis was a millionaire? The rest of millionaire jazz musicians can be counted on one hand. Maybe they'll confiscate his piano in their effort to "defend the arts"?

Kennedy Center Chief Threatens Legal Action Over Canceled Christmas Concert

www.nytimes.com

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 15d

Can make educated guesses.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 16d

As for the recent cases, listen to any interview with these folks. They keep complaining that, despite their enormous wealth and power, others don't love and admire them as much as they deserve. So impossibly needy.

Reposted by Anna O. Law

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 16d

Big "yes" to this, which I sketched in my last book. Pleonexia (insatiable greed) is relentless for its victims. The Book of Ecclesiastes offer a lovely metaphor for this -- "chasing the wind" (trying to grasp something that can never be attained).

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 16d

Plato argued in the Republic that the 'tyrant,' or someone with unlimited wealth and power, would live the worst possible life because his soul would be devoured by lawless, unlimited desires that could never be sated. I think we've gotten confirmation of this from more cases than Trump lately

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 16d

I always thought Plato was pretty pollyannaish on this point, but this is decent evidence for the view that a man of bad character will therefore be unhappy even with every external trapping of success and good fortune.

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 16d

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 16d

The Daily Beast @thedailybeast.bsky.social · 16d

President Donald Trump gifted the world with nearly 200 Truth Social posts (and counting) on Christmas Day, where he amplified conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and called for a member of Congress to be deported.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 17d

Or trans-hating Jesus.

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 17d

"Heads I win; tails you lose."

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