Political “Unity” is Neither Necessary Nor Desirable

“[T]o restore the soul and to secure the future of America,” President Joe Biden said in his inaugural speech, “requires more than words. It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity. … This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.” The bad news:  Where politics is concerned, “unity” is a pipe dream.

ARK3 Returns, Pessimism, US Capitol Building, & Bureaucratic Character (1h3m) – Episode 456

Episode 456 welcomes back Alex R. Knight III to the podcast to chat with Skyler on the following topics: pessimism about the future of America; the display of dominance by the corrupt left over Trump for 4 years; the press revealing their strong leftist bias by going silent now that the Presidency is in Democratic hands; Twitter as Establishment, not radical left; Stefan Molyneux; the justice in destroying the US Capitol building (a monument to slavery and continual oppression); a thought experiment on acquitting an unpopular defendant even when widespread riots are guaranteed; politicians and bureaucrats being put under oath and having their claims cross-examined; the fact that government actors have no skin in the game of interfering with our lives; the character flaw that is allowing yourself to assume authority over others without liability (immunity); talking to cops about why they became cops and seeing how far they’ve been corrupted away from those probably noble reasons; normalizing adult drug use, such as is Dr. Carl Hart on Rogan and Reason podcasts; and more.

What is Money?

The word “money” comes from the Latin moneta, which is where coins of precious metal were made and stored. Precious metals naturally rose to the top of money markets because they are scarce, long-lasting, and valued by weight. Gold in particular became the standard for money because it is uniquely suited to serve the purposes of money.

Section 230, Amazon and Parler, Caveat Emptor, Contracts, & Alternatives (41m) – Episode 454

Episode 454 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and what is and is not libertarian about it; Amazon Web Services cancelling their contract with social media platform Parler without the contractually specified notice of 30 days; what should happen to contracts in the future; examining our dependencies and building alternatives; and more.

ARK3 Returns, Teaching Kids, Realism, & Frontiers (1h5m) – Episode 444

Episode 444 welcomes back Alex R. Knight III to chat with Skyler on the following topics: teaching social studies, English, and Spanish at a private sports academy; teaching future Olympic medalists in winter sports; why his social studies curriculum probably wouldn’t fly in public schools; the Tuttle Twins (and ATKE.org); “Great Myths of the Great Depression” by Lawrence Reed; the level of propaganda around COVID-19; why government parasites are always short-term thinkers; the fact that most people simply don’t care, and why should they?; the Voluntaryist vs. the Stoic in each of us; finding liberty in physical, entrepreneurial, and technological frontiers; finding helpfulness and community in relatively freer rural areas; his lamentations on a Biden presidency instead of 4 more years of Donald Trump; and more.