often given preference in college admissions.^43 Supporters of affirmative
action appeal to a more demanding conception of equality, one that
considers not only the rules governing a presumably level playing-
field, but also the conditions under which the players may reach this
field, or not. The two sides claim the high moral ground of equality,
but in different ways.
Contrasting worldviews
The contemporary opposition between the left and the right is thus a
conflict over the meaning of equality in a modern, predominantly lib-
eral society. This is not a conflict about modernity as such, opposing
reaction and progress, but rather a conflict within modernity, on the
manner in which shared principles should be implemented, not only in
a country but also in the world.
This is the distinction that one of the founders of modern neoliberal
thought, Friedrich A. von Hayek, had in mind when he wrote
emphatically that he was not a conservative but a liberal, because he
advocated principled social transformations. The conservative atti-
tude, complained Hayek, is backward looking and dominated by “a
fear of change, a timid distrust of the new as such, while the liberal
position is based on courage and confidence, on a preparedness to let
change run its course even if we cannot predict where it will lead.”
In the fight against collectivism, he explained, liberals “cannot be
content with simply helping to apply the brake.” They must propose
principles, a direction, and avenues for change.^44
Aren’t conservatives nevertheless on the right of the political
spectrum? Yes, because, in practice, they share the skepticism expressed
by a liberal like Jules Ferry, and the distrust of public intervention of
someone like Hayek. The point is simply that conservatism, or a
preference for the status quo, is not what distinguishes most clearly
the right from the left.^45 Margaret Thatcher, for instance, one of the
most important right-wing politicians of our era, meant to transform
Britain in a radical way, not to preserve its established institutions
and practices.
(^43) Stone,Policy Paradox, pp. 393–95.
(^44) Friedrich A. von Hayek, “Why I Am Not a Conservative,” inThe Constitution
of Liberty, University of Chicago Press, 1960, pp. 397–411.
(^45) Bobbio,Left and Right, p. 56.
A clash over equality 19