The New Liberal Podcast The Right Kind of Inclusivity
Feb 28, 2026
They debate whether social inclusion can be pushed so far it harms public life. Viral social media incidents and public disorder are used to explore limits of tolerance. The conversation examines how institutions like transit, libraries, and schools need boundaries to function. They stress pairing compassion with enforcement and resisting both punitive extremes and abandonment of rules.
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Inclusivity As An End Not A Means
- Inclusivity has become an end in itself in progressive spaces rather than a means to improve outcomes.
- Jeremiah Johnson traces social-media fights over public antisocial acts (e.g., meth smoking, urinating on trains) to this maximalist inclusion instinct.
Viral Transit Incidents Reveal Values Clash
- Social-media debates repeatedly replay over extreme public behavior examples to reveal underlying values.
- Johnson cites past viral disputes (meth on subway, public urination) where some defended tolerating disruptive behavior in public transit.
When Inclusion Undermines Institutions
- Over-inclusivity tolerates antisocial conduct that degrades shared institutions.
- Examples Johnson gives include libraries becoming de facto homeless shelters and rising numbers of unqualified service animals.