Preslav Tonkov

Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 4 June 2021

A Fair Game

What the recent problems in elite sport can teach us about the future of capitalism? In the Tyranny of Merit, philosopher Michael Sandel outlines the problem with our modern conception of meritocracy. We tend to champion meritocracy as an ideal to be upheld at any cost because it embodies the idea of fair competition, but […]

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Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 1 April 2021

Workplace or woke-place?

Capitalism is always changing. No idea better encapsulates this than Joseph Schumpeter’s notion of “creative destruction”: the incessant innovation mechanism by which new products and services replace outdated ones is at the heart of the modern economic machine. If we transfer this mode of thinking onto the public realm, we begin to understand that creative […]

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Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 11 January 2021

The paradox of free speech

In The Open Society and its Enemies, Karl Popper argued that unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. Intolerant groups will use their platform to dominate public discourse and institutions to destroy tolerance. Thus free speech can only be extended to individuals which are themselves tolerant of others, not to those who refuse […]

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U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he as walks on the South Lawn of the White House upon his return to Washington from Dover, Delaware, U.S., January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RC1A05E75D00

Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 6 November 2020

The Shining City Upon A Hill

Magical realism and the US election In 1630, upon reaching the shores of New England, the Puritan John Winthrop delivered a sermon which became known as “A Modell of Christian Charity”. Like other idealistic religious devotees, Winthrop crossed the Atlantic with the hope of creating a “city upon a hill”. If you listen closely to […]

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Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 7 July 2020

The Price of Freedom

Jean Paul-Sartre famously remarked that humanity is “condemned” to be free because freedom comes at the cost of being responsible for all the actions one takes. These words have might have echoed in the boardrooms of Facebook over the last week, where the freedom of users was prioritised as an advertising boycott gathered steam against […]

Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 17 May 2020

Covid-1984

Has society been infantilised by the state’s actions during the pandemic? In his essay On Liberty, John Stuart Mill argued that the only reason state power can be rightfully exercised over another member of society against their will is to “prevent harm to others”. This dictum is particularly fitting as a justification for the worldwide […]

Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 6 April 2020

Fantasy Premier League

The moral limits of markets The free market is an economic system based on supply and demand with limited government control. Few businesses have benefited from the embrace of market principles as much as the Premier League. The broadcasting rights alone of this world-beating business are worth £5.13bn for the three seasons from 2016/2017. This […]

Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 6 March 2020

The part-time CEO

Aristotle’s golden mean is a philosophical principle which suggests that the right course of action in a given situation is always the middle way between two extremes. For example, too much or too little courage is not good, one must find a balance. This week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was accused of not being able […]

Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 21 January 2020

BlackRock’s Green New Deal

In This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein outlines a vision for saving the planet in which investors have no role to play. Capitalism, the argument goes, is at odds with the climate. Yet, with the rise of ESG investing, is there now a middle way between finance and the climate? In light of such developments, Blackrock’s CEO Larry […]

Insights Preslav Tonkov

Post author By Preslav Tonkov
Post date 18 October 2019

An Inconvenient Truth

In John Locke’s social contract theory, the right of revolution is one of the most fundamental political rights. When the body politic believes that the government of the day is no longer acting in their interest, they have the legitimate right to revolt against it. Throughout history the right of revolution, or rebellion, has been […]