In the late 18th century, there was a profusion of genius in America and Britain. Where are those people today? Are they just doing something else? Was that time an incredible outlier? Or have we romanticized their talents? I don't think it's fair to say that we have the same level of extraordinary genius, but it's just scattered.
Yuval Levin, author of The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left, talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the ideas of Burke and Paine and their influence on the evolution of political philosophy. Levin outlines the differing approaches of the two thinkers to liberty, authority, and how reform and change should take place. Other topics discussed include Hayek's view of tradition, Cartesian rationalism, the moral high ground in politics, and how the "right and left" division of American politics finds its roots in the debates of these thinkers from the 1700s.