David Lay Williams

@laywilliams.bsky.social

7.5K followers 860 following 1.4K 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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Political science 46%

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

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Manisha Sinha @profmsinha.bsky.social · 28m

Historian here he is right and regrettably the AHA is wrong on AI and its classroom use www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...

I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.

"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."

www.huffpost.com

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 23h

“[An] excellent new book.”—Michelle Goldberg, New York Times

In Furious Minds, @lkatfield.bsky.social chronicles the rise of the New Right—and their powerful assault on American freedoms, values, and ideals.

Out now (6 Jan UK pub).

Read a free preview: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right by Laura K. Field. The story of the radical conservative intellectual movement shaping Donald Trump’s agenda—and how it threatens American freedoms, values, and democracy.

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

Anyone have access to this?

jid.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/ji...

Piketty: 10 Years After Capital in the Twenty-First Century and 5 Years After Capital and Ideology | Journal of Income Distribution® Journal of Income Distribution

The Journal of Income Distribution aims to facilitate communication and discussion of research in the field of social economics and particularly in the sphere of the distribu...

jid.journals.yorku.ca

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

Love that!

Reposted by Aaron Sojourner, David Lay Williams

Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham @paulgp.com · 3d

This Pope guy has some bangers

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

We have built an entire economy based on serving the richest amongst us. It's not sustainable, much less just.

The Middle Class Is Buckling Under Almost Five Years of Persistent Inflation

Workers are growing tired of an economy in which everything seems to get more expensive.

www.wsj.com

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

Menace to society.

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

Not surprising, but yes. Share with those for whom this is not obvious.

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 4d

Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.

Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq

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

Congrats!!!

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 4d

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

This was a fantastic discussion of how our understanding of economic inequality has evolved throughout history. Was honored to participate alongside so many distinguished folks!

The Stone Centre at UCL @stoneeconucl.bsky.social · 12d

The Stone Centre Inequality Dialogue recap & full replay are now live. Huge thanks to @brankomilan.bsky.social, @laywilliams.bsky.social, @johncassidysays.bsky.social, @undercoverhist.bsky.social & @annastansbury.bsky.social for your contributions & to all who joined us. Recap: bit.ly/Dialogue-recap

Reposted by Jonathan Birch, Nigel Warburton, David Lay Williams

David Bather Woods @davidbatherwoods.bsky.social · 7d

It’s publication day! Spread the word. The perfect Christmas gift for the pessimist in your life.

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Alex Lefebvre @lefebvrealex.bsky.social · 7d

"It takes a Straussian to catch a Straussian."

In case you missed it, here's my LARB review of @lkatfield.bsky.social terrific new book, Furious Minds, published by @princetonupress.bsky.social.

lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-mo...

A Mole in MAGA’s Midst | Los Angeles Review of Books

Alexandre Lefebvre reads “Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right” by Laura K. Field.

lareviewofbooks.org

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 8d

What better time to celebrate the amazing contributions of immigrants to American culture? Come join me, @jgordonwright.com, @jbsinger.bsky.social, and the @chicagojazzdads.com Thursday night at Evanston Pour.

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Eric Brandom @ebrandom.bsky.social · 8d

Noah Webster: "An equality of property, with a necessity of alienation constantly operating to destroy combinations of powerful families, is the very soul of a republic."

ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The system of the great Montesquieu will ever be erroneous till the words property or lands in fee simple are substituted for virtue, through-out his Spirit of Laws. Virtue, patriotism, or love of country never was and never will be, till mens' natures are changed, a fixed, permanent principle and support of government. An equality of property, with a necessity of alienation constantly operating to destroy combina-tions of powerful families, is the very soul of a republic. While this continues, the people will inevitably possess both power and freedom; when this is lost, power departs, liberty expires, and a commonwealth will inevitably assume some other form.

All the rest - "liberty of the press, trial by jury, the Habeas Corpus writ, even Magna Charta itself" - though no doubt "palladia of freedom," were all "inferior considerations when compared with a general distribution of real property among every class of people... Let the people have property and they The liberties of America, therefore, and will have power. her forms of government, stand on the broadest basis." Abstract - is unreal virtue - absolutely disinterested love of country and has nothing to do with the matter. 51

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 10d

Credit to: khalid karim STEMKITA

Reposted by Frank C. Thames

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 10d

This showed up in the other place. I'm amused!

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 10d

"Three Key Takeaways" from the outstanding @stoneeconucl.bsky.social dialogue on inequality in the history of economic and political thought. With @brankomilan.bsky.social, @johncassidysays.bsky.social, @annastansbury.bsky.social, and @undercoverhist.bsky.social.

Stone Centre Online Inequality Dialogue: Three key takeaways

The discussion centred on the tension between philosophical and economic approaches to inequality, and the shift from historical concerns to modern data-driven analysis.

www.stone-econ.org

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 10d

Don't know Triangle of Sadness, but anything that's "pure Rousseau" goes right to the top of my list!

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 12d

This panel discussion of my and @brankomilan.bsky.social’s books was a real pleasure. Thanks so much to all who made it possible!

The Stone Centre at UCL @stoneeconucl.bsky.social · 12d

Reposted by Branko Milanovic, David Lay Williams

The Stone Centre at UCL @stoneeconucl.bsky.social · 12d

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 13d

I enjoyed (if that's the right word) White Lotus -- and can't wait to see how your daughter employs Rousseau to process it!

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

This is absolutely grounded in Scripture, but also prevalent in much of the ancient world, as Aristotle discusses in the Politics. I address this in some depth in the Greatest of All Plagues.

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst.bsky.social · 14d

If you talk about forgiving or cancelling debts nowadays, you may face a variety of insults from conservatives

But it is something built into Biblical law. Maybe those conservatives need to read a book about the history of Debt.

"Nehemiah quickly found himself confronted with a social crisis.
All around him, impoverished peasants were unable to pay
their taxes; creditors were carrying off the children of the poor.
.
His first response was to issue a classic Babylonian-style "clean
slate" edict-having himself been born in Babylon, he was clearly
familiar with the general principle. All non-commercial debts were
to be forgiven. Maximum interest rates were set. At the same time,
though, Nehemiah managed to locate, revise, and reissue much older
Jewish laws, now preserved in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus,
which in certain ways went even further, by institutionalizing the principle.

The most famous of these is the Law of Jubilee: a law that stipulated
that all debts would be automatically cancelled "in the Sabbath year"
(that is, after seven years had passed), and that all who languished in
bondage owing to such debts would be released."
.
- David Graeber
(Page 81/82 of Debt: First 5000 Years)

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

Thanks, Alex! And I’d love to see your daughter’s paper!

Alex Lefebvre @lefebvrealex.bsky.social · 14d

Love this book. And now my daughter is using it for her Year 12 English project on White Lotus and Rousseau's Second Discourse.

Fun for the whole family! Thanks @laywilliams.bsky.social

Reposted by David Lay Williams

David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst.bsky.social · 14d

Reposted by Anna O. Law, David Lay Williams

Alex Lefebvre @lefebvrealex.bsky.social · 14d

Love this book. And now my daughter is using it for her Year 12 English project on White Lotus and Rousseau's Second Discourse.

Fun for the whole family! Thanks @laywilliams.bsky.social