Capital Record Episode 258: The NatCon Movement Got Played
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Sep 23, 2025 The podcast delves into the National Conservatism movement, uncovering contradictions in their manifesto about free enterprise. Host David L. Bahnsen critiques how their initial ideals have been compromised, revealing the unintended consequences of their advocacy. The discussion focuses on how ambiguous language has paved the way for crony capitalism and state interventions. Listeners are treated to a thought-provoking analysis of how movements may empower the very issues they aim to combat.
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Freedom Vs. Virtue Tension
- David L. Bahnsen warns that sacrificing freedom for a virtuous society undermines both.
- He argues a virtuous society built by removing freedoms wouldn't be truly virtuous.
Keynote Prompted Manifesto Review
- Bahnsen recounts giving a keynote and hearing a National Conservatism founder speak, prompting research into their manifesto.
- That event led him to reexamine the movement's original tenets from 2018–19.
Manifesto's Free Market Contradiction
- The NatCon manifesto affirms private property and free enterprise while rejecting socialist central planning.
- Bahnsen notes that initial agreement fractures when they add that the free market "cannot be absolute."