Thomas Sowell is amazing. In his book A Conflict Of Visions (1987) he explores two ways of viewing people and systems: Constrained and Unconstrained visions.

Those who have a constrained vision of humanity/the world believe that human nature is limited and that humans are inherently egocentric and flawed. They believe that we have to work within these constraints (trade offs) and use incentives to get people to do what is desirable, moral, and/or wanted.

In contrast, those who have an unconstrained vision believe that human nature is changeable, that egocentricity is not inherent, and that humans can do the right thing without any incentives involved. There is a focus on changing human nature and arriving at the perfect solution to all problems.

As you can probably tell by now, these two visions are part of the foundation of conservative (constrained) and liberal (unconstrained) ideas and ideologies.

I'd love for us to discuss how this idea relates to RPW, feminism, mainstream culture in general, and our personal lives. Here is a (short) chart that gives more info on both visions.