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Matt Zwolinski

@mattzwolinski.bsky.social

1.5K followers 280 following 110 posts

Philosopher. Co-author of The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism (Princeton, 2023), and Universal Basic Income: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford, 2023). Http://bleedingheartlibertarian.substack.com .. more

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Nov 10

My book with John Tomasi, The Individualists, is now out in paperback.
If you’re interested in an intellectual history of libertarianism that shows how it went from radical supporters of abolitionism and women’s rights to a party that threw its weight behind Donald Trump, this is the book for you.

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Reposted by Matt Zwolinski

Matt McManus @mattpolprof.bsky.social · 18d

Thank you to @mattzwolinski.bsky.social for this typically thoughtful and generous review of "The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism" from a libertarian standpoint....

www.independent.org/tir/2025-fal...

Book Review: The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, Matthew McManus

In 2022, the Pew Research Center published a report that caught many conservatives and classical liberals by surprise. Socialism, the report revealed, is

www.independent.org

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Aug 5

Abundance theorists are right to focus on the importance of building things. But by ignoring public choice theory, they miss the risk that state-driven growth will benefit the elite rather than the masses. My review of _Abundance_ and _Why Nothing Works_, at Econlib.
www.econlib.org/library/colu...

The Cost of Building Progress - Econlib

Book Review of: Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress–and How to Bring It Back by Marc J. Dunkelman,1; and Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson.2 Vera Coking and the Cost of Progress In 1961, V...

www.econlib.org

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Reposted by Erwin Dekker, Matt Zwolinski

Digressionsimpressions @nescio13.bsky.social · Aug 5

On Polycentrism and the New Classical Liberalism. Neoliberalism is dead; Long live Neoliberalism!, pt 1.
open.substack.com/pub/digressi...
with a shout out to @mattzwolinski.bsky.social @vladtarko.bsky.social, @drnickcowen.bsky.social

On Polycentrism and the New Classical Liberalism. Neoliberalism is dead; Long live Neoliberalism!, pt 1.

Fairly or not, neo-liberalism (and its cousin new public management) ended up being associated with monopolistic privatization, the Financial Crisis and the Great Recession, Austerity, and Pinochet.

open.substack.com

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jul 31

Grab your copy today!

t.co/DTAlc8RpfK

https://www.amazon.com/Arguing-About-Political-Philosophy/dp/1032630280/ref=pd_lpo_d_sccl_2/130-6567473-8082842?pd_rd_w=qpUm2&content-id=amzn1.sym.4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_p=4c8c52db...

t.co

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jul 31

Companion website here with sample quizzes, tests, and writing assignments. Plus extensive study questions for every reading in the book.

routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/_a...

Companion Website - Landing Page

routledgetextbooks.com

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jul 31

Out today! The new and massively revised third edition of Arguing About Political Philosophy, co-edited with the fantastic @mjuarezgarcia_ . Perfect for courses in political philosophy or PPE.

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Reposted by Makoto Yano, Matt Zwolinski

Xander Lenc @xlenc.bsky.social · Jun 15

Truly wild photos coming in from Los Angeles right now.

Photo from Carlin Stiehl from the LA Times. Dozens of people holding American flags on the streets of LA are in frame, with a massive cloud of tear gas billowing in front of them. One protester holds a sign that reads Immigrants Make Us Great.

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jul 23

This is a really great interview, Berny. You did a fantastic job of letting her get her point of view out while still really pushing her where she needed to be pushed. 👏👏

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Reposted by Matt Zwolinski

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · Jun 25

Careful guys, if you don’t control migration you might turn out like <checks notes> the greatest, wealthiest city in the world.

Ghoul Stephen Miller warns NYC is what happens when a society “fails to control migration”

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jun 19

Trump channeling his inner Thomas Carlyle for Juneteenth.

“Quashee, if he will not help in bringing out the spices, will get himself made a slave again…and with beneficient whip, since other methods avail not, will be compelled to work.”

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jun 11

Feels like a good time to repost this.

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Nov 11

Homan and Miller are heading into the Trump administration, and people need to read Kukathas.
His point: you can’t limit freedom of immigration without severely limiting the freedom of citizens. Restricting their freedom means restricting our own too.
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Immigration and Freedom

A compelling account of the threat immigration control poses to the citizens of free societies

press.princeton.edu

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jun 5

Ya think?

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jun 3

Oh geez. Just noticed the typo! My head hangeth in shame.

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Jun 2

Picking up on a distinction introduced by the late great Steve Horowitz, I argue that libertarians make a mistake when they equate being anti-state with being pro-liberty.

To Fight Authoritarianism, Libertarians Need to be More Pro-Liberty, Not Just Anti-State

Blogger Noah Smith’s praise for libertarianism comes at an odd time but offers an opportunity to clarify the side that has contributed to human freedom and flourishing

open.substack.com

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · May 9

Thank you, Eric!

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · May 9

www.routledge.com/Arguing-Abou...

Arguing About Political Philosophy

This Third Edition of Arguing About Political Philosophy is the most complete, up-to-date, and interdisciplinary anthology of its kind. Its selections cover classic philosophical sources such as those...

www.routledge.com

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · May 9

Page proofs are in! Coming your way this July.

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Apr 29

Reading @anneapplebaum.bsky.social's excellent, _Autocracy, Inc._. I can’t recommend it enough as a guide to understanding the rising tide of 21st century authoritarianism. And some of what she describes sounds eerily familiar…

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Reposted by Matt Zwolinski

Jonathan Church, CFA @jondavidchurch.bsky.social · Apr 15

@mattpolprof.bsky.social

jacobin.com/2023/04/libe...

Libertarians Weren’t Always Apologists for the Rich and Powerful

A new history of libertarianism challenges the conventional understanding of the tradition by spotlighting its radical currents. Unfortunately, there’s barely a remnant of that history today — most li...

jacobin.com

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Reposted by Matt Zwolinski

Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome.bsky.social · Apr 3

WH has now confirmed: this is insane nypost.com/2025/04/02/u...

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Reposted by Matt Zwolinski

Matt McManus @mattpolprof.bsky.social · Apr 1

"The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism" is on sale at Routledge. $10 bucks off.

www.routledge.com/The-Politica...

The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism

McManus presents a comprehensive guide to the liberal socialist tradition, stretching from Mary Wollstonecraft and Thomas Paine through John Stuart Mill to Irving Howe, John Rawls, and Charles Mills. ...

www.routledge.com

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Mar 31

Oh, can I get an early copy?

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Reposted by Matt Zwolinski

Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof @evanbernick.bsky.social · Mar 30

There is no reason to doubt that this man speaks for the administration. Read it and consider where we are.

An insane rant by Stephen Miller about immigration from March 29, 2025, 4:44PM UTC.
Full text at
https://xcancel.com/StephenM/status/1906024686674133371

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Mar 27

I find the second and third of those reasons more compelling than the first.

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Mar 27

But we don’t generally get to control our creations in that way. If someone gets an idea from my writing and then uses it in a novel way to create something new, they’re entitled to make money from that creation. They don’t need my consent for that, nor do they owe me any compensation.

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Mar 27

Not all differences are relevant differences. So the question is whether it should matter that it’s a machine rather than a human, and why. That’s what I haven’t seen articulated yet.

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Mar 27

Well, they *are* learning. Whether they count as “minds” or not seems at least unclear to me, philosophically speaking. But functionally, they certainly behave more and more like minds.

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Mar 27

But is consent necessary in such cases? If art is placed in the public sphere, and a human beings observe it, learn from it, and use what they have learned in their own creative work, that's not theft. That's just how culture works. I'm not clear on why it's different in the case of AI.

Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Mar 27

This is an original image, isn’t it? I’m not sure I see how it qualifies as “stolen.”

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Matt Zwolinski @mattzwolinski.bsky.social · Mar 25

Ouch. I’ll grant that it’s not a great image. And I was being lazy about it. I put my work into the content. The image was an afterthought.
But I’m curious why you’re reacting so strongly to it. Is it the particular image? Or is it the use of AI image generators in general?