This episode features a talk by President Emeritus of both the Foundation for Economic Education and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy Lawrence Reed from 2015. There’s little truly “progressive” about Progressivism. True progress happens when humans are free, yet the Progressive agenda substantially diminishes freedom while promising the unachievable. Based on his 2015 book, Excuse Me, Professor, Reed tackles a number of the most common economic, philosophic and historical errors of “progressive” ideology.
Category: Liberty Voices
Thaddeus Russell: Thoughts of a Renegade (1h11m)
This episode features an interview of post-academic historian and education entrepreneur Thaddeus Russell from 2017 by Nick Gillespie of the Reason podcast. Russell talks about discovering the Austrian School of economics only long after he left the academy, why actual Marxists hate postmodernism and why libertarians should love it, the insidious nature of America’s Protestant work ethic, and how the Democrats are reviving the Cold War.
John Baeza: A View From the Frontline of the Drug War (30m)
This episode features a talk by former New York Police Department narcotics detective John Baeza from 2019. He speaks of his conversion from drug warrior to anti drug war warrior. Harrowing tales of undercover drug buys!
Randy Barnett: Polycentric Legal Orders (49m)
This episode features a talk by lawyer and legal theorist Randy Barnett from 1997. He speaks broadly on various methods of constraining state power including federalism and the separation of powers, the power of exit, and existing and theoretical polycentric legal orders. Barnett suggests that two simple rules must be present for polycentric orders to work: a “nonconfiscation principle,” and a “competition principle.”
Flemming Rose: Censorship and Self-Censorship (1h34m)
This episode features a discussion with Danish journalist Flemming Rose from 2017. Twenty-five years ago, the pioneers of the Internet believed that they had created a tool to do away with censorship once and for all. Today, anyone with a smartphone is able to publish and communicate whatever they want, and yet, censorship still exists online. Just as the printing press, radio, and TV that came before it, while the Internet promised to be a breakthrough for freedom of speech, the government has found ways to control and limit our ability to freely disseminate information online. What does censorship in the 21st century look like? How does digital technology affect the way we communicate today? Is outright censorship easier to deal with than soft censorship and self-censorship? In this lecture, Flemming Rose explores these questions and more.
George Smith: The Moral Right to Resist Authority (56m)
This episode features a lecture by author and educator George H. Smith from 1996. Smith speaks generally on the moral right of resistance to government and particularly from the historical perspective of the American Revolution.
David Friedman: Should We Abolish Criminal Law? (42m)
This episode features a lecture by economics professor David Friedman from 2012. Friedman examines the differences between civil and criminal systems of law. He imagines what the U.S. legal system would look like if criminal law were dissolved — that is, if the legal system was composed entirely of individuals bringing claims against each other. Friedman anticipates the problems raised by such a system and attempts to come up with solutions to the contrary.
Marc Stevens: Undermining the Non-existent State (53m)
This episode features a talk by activist radio host and anarchist Marc Stevens from 2010. He talks about undermining the factually non-existent state by challenging any and all claims of jurisdiction, that their laws apply to anyone, anywhere.
Bruce Benson: The Evolution of Law (48m)
This episode features a lecture by academic economist Bruce Benson from 1997. He talks about the origin and subsequent development of legal systems. He starts by reviewing Franz Oppenheimer’s distinction between two means to wealth- economic and political- and theorizes about the development of cooperation in society and the creation of systems of private property.
Edward Stringham: Private Governance (25m)
This episode features an interview of economics professor Edward Stringham from 2015 by Jeff Diest, host of the Human Action podcast (formerly Mises Weekends). Edward is the author of a book called Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life, where he looks back at the history of private legal systems, and in so doing demolishes the idea that only the state can manage and adjudicate human conflicts. Today, Edward gives some concrete, real-world examples of how private governance operates in our statist world. If you’re interested in Rothbardian and Hoppean anarcho-capitalism, you’ll find Edward’s book a great addition to your library, and you’ll enjoy hearing this interview.