Episode 474: Schoolhouse Farce

In this episode, we discuss the rising backlash to last week’s comments about Nick Fuentes, the distinction between personal judgment and deplatforming, and the broader question of what ideas belong in public discourse. We explore the failures of remedial education across major universities, the collapsing academic standards that allow students to advance without basic literacy and numeracy, and the systemic incentives that push institutions to “get students through” rather than educate them. We examine the roots of the public-school crisis, the role of property-tax funding, the constraints of unionized pay structures, and why market incentives and genuine school choice may be the only workable path forward. We also revisit lessons from the Soviet Union, grocery-store abundance, and what markets reveal about human flourishing in ways central planning never can.

00:00 Introduction and Overview

01:19 The Camino Story and Unexpected Love of Hiking

05:03 Walking Ancient Roman Roads with Modern Tech

07:50 Criticism, Free Speech, and the Nick Fuentes Debate

13:24 Where to Draw the Line on Platforming Extremists

14:49 The Difference Between Preference and Censorship

18:43 Foolishness of the Week: University of Arizona AI Prompting Class

20:13 College Remediation and the Math Skills Crisis

23:08 The Collapse of Writing Standards in Higher Education

24:31 Why Students Aren’t Being Educated Before College

29:08 Public Schools, Property Taxes, and Unequal Outcomes

33:53 Why Money and Teacher Quality Don’t Correlate

35:34 School Choice, Competition, and Market Incentives

37:02 Why Centralized Solutions Don’t Work in Education

39:50 Markets, Feedback Loops, and Real Accountability

46:11 Closing Thoughts and Listener Send-Off

47:33 Aftershow: Khrushchev, Yeltsin, and the Grocery Store Lesson

53:51 The Power of Markets: Food, Abundance, and Freedom

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