David Lay Williams

@laywilliams.bsky.social

7.5K followers 850 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

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 54m

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

Alex Lefebvre @lefebvrealex.bsky.social · 14h

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 Anna O. Law, David Lay Williams

Alex Lefebvre @lefebvrealex.bsky.social · 14h

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

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 18h

Look what just arrived, @lkatfield.bsky.social! Looking forward to diving in!

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Laura K Field @lkatfield.bsky.social · 22h

Today at 4pm! Join @libankerdc.bsky.social, Tim Shenk, Matthew Dallek and I to discuss FURIOUS MINDS at GW's Elliott School.

@illsp.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social

Register here:

lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/qjdn8...

Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right, Book Launch and Roundtable

Donald Trump is not a big thinker, but his 2016 presidential victory presented a grand opportunity for people who are, and it set off a radicalization and reconfiguration of the American conservative ...

lp.constantcontactpages.com

Reposted by Reece Jones, Kate Jackson, Dunlap , and 1 more Reece Jones, Kate Jackson, Dunlap, David Lay Williams

Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 1d

I feel silly publicizing a book in these times BUT my book describes how constitutional structures allowed the accumulation of generational wealth + rights for settlers and white people. These are the same advantages MAGA is trying to preserve today. Pre-order page:

Reposted by Steve Peers, David R. Miller, Scott A. Imberman , and 3 more Steve Peers, David R. Miller, Scott A. Imberman, Caroline Fohlin, Ann Bartow, David Lay Williams

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

> @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 2d

Who needs real friends so long as we have AI? (At the Davis L Station in Evanston.)

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

We’ve tried extreme inequality, but why not try hyper-, super-, turbo-extreme inequality? What could go wrong?

Musk Wins $1 Trillion Pay Package, Creating Split Screen on Wealth in America

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Melanie C. Green, Michelle L. Mazurek, Victor Galaz , and 6 more Melanie C. Green, Michelle L. Mazurek, Victor Galaz, Anne Norton, David Murakami Wood, Sam Kamin, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, David R. Shumway, David Lay Williams

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 4d

I fully believe in the corporate death penalty and believe we would be a better world if OpenAI lost its corporate charter and was forcibly dissolved.

www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...

ChatGPT encouraged college graduate to commit suicide, family claims in lawsuit against OpenAI | CNN

A 23-year-old man killed himself in Texas after ChatGPT ‘goaded’ him to commit suicide, his family says in a lawsuit.

www.cnn.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, David Lay Williams

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 4d

Ellis, apparently wrapping up, is quoting George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and others.

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

Very happy college memories.

The Legend of Pico de Gallo - TCU Magazine

TCU philosophy professors formed Pico de Gallo, trading lectures for late-night gigs and raising money for campus causes.

magazine.tcu.edu

Reposted by Juan Cole, Margot C. Finn, Eric D. Knowles , and 5 more Juan Cole, Margot C. Finn, Eric D. Knowles, Mark Rice, Andrew M. Riggsby, Catriona Seth, Daxton R. Stewart, David Lay Williams

Elisabeth R. Anker @libankerdc.bsky.social · 5d

Humanities where the cool jobs at

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

I know it's hard to draw up reasonable guidelines about these matters, which is probably why universities and state legislatures have generally trusted professors to handle these matters as they think best promote a convivial learning environment. Anything else runs the danger of excess constraint.

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

Also, I think I understand what this is getting at, but where do we draw the line? What if a student is a Holocaust denier or a Nazi? How free should they feel to express their views?

to foster classroom cultures of trust in which all students feel free to voice their questions and beliefs, especially when those perspectives might conflict with those of the instructor or other students;

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

I think this passage is potentially problematic. For example, when I teach Henrik Ibsen's Enemy of the People, it's hard not to discuss climate change as a phenomenon parallel to what is confronted by Ibsen's 19th century Norwegian village. Because some doubt climate change, is this off-limits???

to eschew topics and controversies that are not germane to the course.

Reposted by David Lay Williams

undercoverhist.bsky.social @undercoverhist.bsky.social · 7d

Tonight, we're discussing inequality in the history of economic and political thought at 6PM CET online in a ULC Stone Centre Webinar

Discussion is centered on recent books by Branko Milanović and David Lay Williams

Register here : ucl.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 7d

Tomorrow (Tuesday)!

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

Super excited for this @stoneeconucl.bsky.social event next Tuesday! With @brankomilan.bsky.social, @johncassidysays.bsky.social, @undercoverhist.bsky.social, @annastansbury.bsky.social. On-line and open registration.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Stone Centre Dialogue on Inequality in the History of Economic and Political Thought. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining...

A Panel Conversation, featuring Branko Milanović and David Lay Williams. As inequality has grown, so has interest in its roots and implications. This online event will explore the intellectual histor...

ucl.zoom.us

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Branko Milanovic @brankomilan.bsky.social · 8d

I was reading @johncassidysays.bsky.social
"Capitalism and its critics". Highly recommend. Very well written, easy to read, well-informed. Goes from Adam Smith to Piketty.

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

It’s a very good book!

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 9d

Much like Alcibiades. (This account from Plutarch's Lives.)

Possessing a dog of wonderful size and beauty, which had cost him seventy minas,⁠17 he had its tail cut off, and a beautiful tail it was, too. His comrades chid him for this, and declared that everybody was furious about the dog and abusive of its owner. But Alcibiades burst out laughing and said: "That's just what I want; I want Athens to talk about this, that it may say nothing worse about me."

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 9d

Still relevant.

The DePaulia @depaulia.bsky.social · Sep 15

Guest Letter: Class of 2029, don’t squander your education by using AI

Dear DePaul Class of 2029, I’m writing as a faculty member to congratulate you beginning your college career at DePaul. As I hope you will soon discover, your college years represent an extraordinary and unique opportunity to…

Guest Letter: Class of 2029, don’t squander your education by using AI

Dear DePaul Class of 2029, I’m writing as a faculty member to congratulate you beginning your college career at DePaul. As I hope you will soon discover, your college years represent an extraordinary and unique opportunity to grow — emotionally, socially, spiritually and especially intellectually. You have never had so much freedom in your life to explore new and provocative ideas before — and likely never will again.

depauliaonline.com

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

A student yesterday came up to me to share that she had taken my recommendation to attend the Lyric Opera of Chicago's performance of Medea! She loved it. Made my day!

Medea

Hell hath no fury like a sorceress scorned. Euripides' tragic tale of infidelity and revenge comes alive in this intense revival, directed by Sir David McVicar.

www.lyricopera.org

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

Pink Hawley!

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

In my district.

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 12d

FLAG: Progressive House candidate Kat Abughazaleh has been indicted on federal charges stemming from protests outside an ICE facility outside Chicago.

Abughazaleh called the charges "political prosecution" and a "gross attempt to silence dissent, a right protected under the First Amendment."

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Guido Alfani @guidoalfani.bsky.social · 12d

In this episode of the Dondena Decode podcast I have the honour of interviewing Nobel laureate James Robinson on the reasons why modern democracy is proving to be a fragile institution, on the importance of studying the past, on the consequences of getting a Nobel...
open.spotify.com/episode/4CqO...

Dondena Decode - Episode 5

open.spotify.com

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 12d

Reposted by David Lay Williams

Elizabeth Wrigley-Field @wrigleyfield.bsky.social · 12d

There's been good polling on what people know about inequality. (They think it's a LOT less than it is.)

This is over a decade old; I'd love to see an update

INEQUALITY IN THE U.S.: IMAGINED VERSUS REALITY - Sociology Toolbox

The Society Pages (TSP) is an open-access social science project headquartered in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota

thesocietypages.org