Wisdom of Crowds

A new year is before us, and soon, a new president will assume office. What does the future have in store? Trump supporters are happy, and his opponents are full of foreboding. Many people also feel that a new era in American history is about to begin — for better or worse. Damir Marusic and Santiago Ramos discuss the nature of this new era. They begin with the question of fear: Are you afraid of the second Trump term? Santiago explains why the Trump phenomenon seemed more frightening in 2016 than it does in 2024. Damir asks whether finding historical analogues for Trump actually illuminates anything about the man, and makes him less scary. Santiago then asks Damir about two of his latest pieces for Wisdom of Crowds, in which Damir seems almost giddy about the collapse of the liberal establishment and Trump’s rise. What exactly is Damir happy about? What good does he see coming from this historical moment? What is changing? While not defending Trump himself, Damir argues that Trump’s crushing of liberal illusions, and the exposure of the hypocrisy of our political class, are good things. What he hopes for is a new “positive program of skepticism and humility,” and a more limited version of liberalism. In the course of the conversation, Damir and Santiago cover wide variety of topics: Damir’s newfound conservatism; Trump and Andrew Jackson; Kissinger on Trump; the USA and Latin America; NATO; Greenland; and the Cold War. Because this is our first podcast of the new year, and season-opener of sorts, we are making this episode free for all subscribers. Required Reading and Listening:* Damir, “The feeling of limitless possibility ahead of Trump's inauguration is dizzying” (WoC).* Damir, “The Peasants, the People and God” (WoC).* Santiago on Latinos and the election (Commonweal).* Santiago on Trump and Latin America (Commonweal). * Black Mirror episode Santiago mentions: “The Waldo Moment” (IMDB). * Henry Kissinger: “I think Trump may be one of those figures in history who appears from time to time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give up its old pretences” (Financial Times). * Jason Willick on Trump and Andrew Jackson (Washington Post).* Samuel Goldman on why the US is more like Latin America than Europe (The Week). * Antonio García Martínez on why the US is like Brazil (X). * Our podcast episode with Yuval Levin (WoC).* Video of Trump and Stoltenberg (YouTube).* Jon Stewart on Nancy Pelosi’s “legal corruption” (The Wrap).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveFor some people, “liberal socialism” sounds like an oxymoron. Liberalism is a political idea that promises to protect individual rights. Socialism, on the other hand, is about collective power: the power of workers to organize and, if not quite seize, at least have a say in the administration of the means of production. Liberalism is about freedom, while socialism is about equality. Not so, argues Matthew McManus, political science professor at the University of Michigan. In his new book, The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, McManus recovers the oft-forgotten tradition of liberal socialism. He tells the story of great liberal socialist thinkers while also crafting a contemporary version of liberal socialism, relevant for today.Samuel Kimbriel and Santiago Ramos open the episode with a discussion about the 2022 “Freedom Convoy” trucker protests in Canada, which displayed some of the tensions between socialist and liberal ideals. The conversation moves on to the thought of Mary Wollstonecraft, whether John Rawls was a socialist, and how Matthew’s experience working for McDonald’s converted him to socialism.Samuel and Santiago press Matthew about a core first principle: equality. Why does he hold to this principle? Where does it come from? How can it be philosophically defended and justified? Matthew considers the different sources of political conviction: personal experience, and political theory. Which one is more influential in a person’s mind?In our bonus section for paid subscribers, Matthew criticizes the “nebbish incrementalism” of neoliberalism and the excesses of “postmodern skepticism,” while declaring: “Left wing intellectuals have a lot more that they could be doing.”Required Reading:* Matthew McManus, The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism (Amazon). * Matthew McManus faculty page (University of Michigan). * Matthew McManus and Carlo Lancellotti debate about conservatives and equality (WoC). * Matthew McManus, “The Liberal Democratic Socialism of John Rawls” (Liberal Currents). * “Canadian Trucker Convoy Descends on Ottawa to Protest Vaccine Mandates” (New York Times). * Article about 2010 anti-G20 protests in Canada: “Police take ‘pre-emptive strikes’ with sweeping arrests” (CTV News). * Santiago Ramos, “The Meaning of McDonald’s” (WoC).* Samuel Kimbriel and Damir Marusic debate “What Politics is Really About” (WoC). * Podcast with Alexandre Lefebvre, “Liberalism is Not Neutral” (WoC). * Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons (Amazon). * Mary Wollstonecraft (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

Damir Marusic has been reading the Bible this year for the first time. So Christine Emba and Santiago Ramos decided it was the perfect occasion for interrogating him about what he’s learned and what he’s been thinking about. In the ensuing conversation, the three discuss Freemasonry, Protestantism, Catholicism, Predestination and how Christianity is receiving new attention in Silicon Valley. Then, the conversation turns to Christmas traditions, and how the contemplative and party-going sides of Christmas complement each other.In the spirit of Christmas, we have made this a free episode for all subscribers. The conversation culminates in a discussion about time itself: what makes some moments in time different from others, and how Christmas is a necessary “break” from chronological time. Required Reading:* Damir Marusic, “The Protestant Deformation in America” (WoC).* King James Version (Bible Gateway). * Ruth Graham, “In a First Among Christians, Young Men Are More Religious Than Young Women.” (NYT).* “Christians in tech drive religious revival in SF” (San Francisco Standard).* Peter Thiel, “Against Edenism” (First Things). * CrowdSource: “Tech-Trad Synergy” (WoC). * Charles Taylor on secular time and higher time. Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

As election data analysis continues to pour in, we can be sure of one thing: a large number of working class votes which traditionally would have gone to the Democrats shifted in 2024 toward the GOP. As CNN reported last week: “Trump ran up large margins among White voters without a college degree who belong to labor unions and also significantly improved among unionized non-White workers without advanced education.”So, did Trump’s victory signal a realignment for the working class? Or was it a one-off thing, an act of rebellion against a complacent Democratic establishment? In terms of first principles, what is an economy that makes sense for workers, and for all Americans? What are Americans owed? And do we have obligations toward undocumented immigrants? For this special live recording of the podcast, we invited Oren Cass from the conservative pro-labor think tank, the American Compass, to help us answer these questions. Samuel Kimbriel kicked things off with a question about the “American dream,” which Oren contrasts with what he calls “the American promise.” The dream is about upward mobility, and the promise is about economic stability. The problem in America today, Oren says, “is not that you can’t rise to the top, but you don’t have this basic stability to work from.”Christine Emba challenged Oren on immigration. On what grounds should the rights of American workers take precedence over the rights of workers in general? Why should we restrict immigration to people who want to join the American project? The conversation touched up the first principle question of “Who qualifies as a member of the political community?”, as Oren put it. The recording of this live event is fully open and free for all subscribers. You can listen to the Crowd ask questions during the Q and A period at the end. Our holiday party followed the event — something which, alas, was not recorded. But you can enjoy these pictures!Required Reading:* CrowdSource about economic populism (WoC). * “How Trump is giving the labor movement the blue-collar blues” (CNN).* The American Compass’ mission statement.* “This Conservative Wants to Change the Way Republicans Think About Economics” (New York Times interview with Cass). * Oren Cass, “Workers Deserve Real Power. Unions Aren’t the Best Way to Get It” (New York Times). * Oren Cass, The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America (Amazon). * Oren’s Substack, Understanding America.* Christine Emba, “What Would Society Look Like if Extreme Wealth Were Impossible?” (The Atlantic). * Samuel Kimbriel, “Bonfire of the Vanities” (WoC).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveIn 2024, over 77 million Americans voted for Donald Trump. Friend of Wisdom of Crowds Michael Brendan Dougherty, a writer and conservative commentator at the National Review, was one of them. However, MBD (as he is known) did not vote for Trump in 2020 nor in 2016. In fact, he was an early conservative opponent of Trump. In 2016, MBD wrote: “[Trump] is clearly a product of a decadent society, not the scourge or redeemer of one.” MBD did not disagree with Trump on his main issues: trade, immigration, and a restrained foreign policy. But he did not believe that the man has the character fit for office.So, what happened? Did MBD change his principles, or did Trump live up to them? Why did MBD vote for Trump, and what does that tell us about the process of picking a candidate, and of the formation of political judgment in general?Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic join MBD to discuss this question and much more. Did MBD change his mind about Trump’s character? Which of Trump’s first term achievements turned MBD into a supporter? What can we expect from a second Trump term — both in domestic policy, as well as in the increasingly dangerous international scene? In the course of discussing these questions, MBD defines the “working class” in American terms, and talks about his own experiences working in a chemical factory.In the bonus portion for paid subscribers, MBD explains the complicated relationship that pro lifers have with Trump, and debates whether the #Resistance movement will return.Required Reading and Listening:* Our 2021 podcast episode with MBD (WoC).* “The Case Against Esoteric Trumpism” by Michael Brendan Dougherty (The Week).* “My First Vote for Trump” by Michael Brendan Dougherty (National Review).* My Father Left Me Ireland: An American Son's Search For Home by Michael Brendan Dougherty (Amazon).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveLast week, President Biden granted his son, Hunter Biden, “a full and unconditional” pardon for any and all offenses from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024. Because Hunter Biden has been a politically charged figure since the first Trump term, and because President Biden repeatedly promised that he would not use his power to protect his son, the presidential pardon was, for many, a strategic and moral mistake — an act of hypocrisy, in short.In this week’s episode, Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic question the assumptions that Biden’s critics are making. Is political hypocrisy inevitable? Might it actually be a good thing? Shadi has written extensively on the topic of hypocrisy, defending it in a unique way. Damir pushes back against Shadi’s moral interpretation of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is not primarily a failure to live up to one’s morals, says Damir, but the failure of a powerful figure to live up to their morals. “Biden’s problem is that he did it [the pardon] so visibly,” says Damir.The conversation progresses to a discussion of the how Islam and Christianity deal with hypocrisy. It becomes a discussion about hypocrisy and international justice, where Damir asks whether international law can be said to exist if it cannot be universally enforced. Perhaps, Damir suggests, Shadi is less of an advocate for international human rights as he is a booster of American imperialism. It’s a classic Shadi-and-Damir give-and-take.In our bonus portion for paid subscribers, Shadi and Damir discuss whether the Department of Justice is ever truly independent of partisan politics, and explore an alternative history where the Democrats never pursued the Russiagate investigations against Donald Trump. Required Reading:* “Biden pardons his son, Hunter, after repeatedly saying he would not” (Reuters).* Shadi: “Can Hypocrisy Be Justified?” (WoC).* Shadi: “Why America Needs Hypocrisy” (WoC).* King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. * “ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova (International Criminal Court).* “Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel’s challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant” (International Criminal Court). * Jason Willick post (X).This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

The headlines prove it: we live in turbulent times. Elizabeth Oldfield, our guest this week, recently published a book — Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times — about how to thrive during such a moment. “If we’re heading into (even more) turbulent times,” Elizabeth writes, “I want to be someone who is of use, not overwhelmed and panicking but steady and hopeful, able to contribute to weaving a canopy of trust under which other people can shelter.” Along with being a writer, a former think tank director and an accomplished broadcast journalist, Elizabeth is host of The Sacred, a podcast where she interviews cultural leaders who “shape our common life,” and asks them “about their deepest values.”In this week’s episode, Damir Marusic and Santiago Ramos turn the tables on Elizabeth, putting her in the interviewee’s chair. What is the source of the wisdom distilled in Elizabeth’s book? If it is religious faith, then is faith required in order to truly embrace that wisdom? Or is the grace of God required? What is “grace,” anyway? Santiago wants to understand how the wisdom that Elizabeth writes about can be appropriated for one’s self. Damir tries to distinguish that wisdom from self-help and therapy.The conversation touches upon art and faith, whether “despair” or “preserving civilization” are good reasons to adopt religion, the necessity of community, and the role that doubt plays in faith. At the heart of the discussion is Damir’s question: “How do we live in this world, and how do we cope with the existence of the horror of this world?”This episode is a searching, personal discussion that is just the thing we need this holiday season. In the bonus section for paid subscribers, Elizabeth talks about her experience of living in community, and also plunges deep into one of the biggest mysteries of the Christian faith.Required Reading:* Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times by Elizabeth Oldfield (Amazon).* Elizabeth’s podcast, The Sacred (Apple Podcasts).* Damir’s essay about therapy (WoC).* Shadi and Damir podcast episode on therapy (WoC).* Pensées by Blaise Pascal (Amazon).* Ayaan Hirsi Ali column explaining “Why I am now a Christian” (UnHerd).* Ayaan Hirsi Ali interview further explaining her conversion (UnHerd).* Elizabeth’s “middle class commune” (profile in the London Times).Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit wisdomofcrowds.liveThe Declaration of Independence affirms that all human beings are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Yet the Declaration is silent about who this Creator is. Is it the Jewish deity or the Christian God? Or is it the god of the philosophers — the blind watchmaker of the Enlightenment? The Constitution, on the other hand, doesn’t mention the divine at all, except for the phrase, “Year of Our Lord.”Mainstream liberals and conservatives, whatever they may think of the silence regarding God in our founding documents, believe in the American experiment. But as Jerome E. Copulsky writes in his new book, American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order, throughout American history there have been those who do not, radical groups who opposed the American project, root and branch, for being liberal, as opposed to Christian. In his book, Copulsky, professor at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, writes about the Loyalist churchmen who opposed the American revolution, the proslavery theologians of the 19th century, the “Theonomist” theocrats of the 20th century, and the “Integralists” of our own time.Jerome joins Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic to discuss his book, but as often happens in Wisdom of Crowds, the conversation takes an unexpected turn. Early on, Shadi presses Jerome to specify exactly what a secular liberal Founding really means for religious practice in the public sphere. Then Shadi submits his own interpretation of the modern state as an inherently secularizing force.Damir brings the question of the secularity of the American project to bear upon current events. To what extent was the American liberal state ever “neutral”? Or is technocratic liberalism the default, unspoken “religion” of the American state? Or was it, until Donald Trump came along? And is Trump, by filling his cabinet with representatives from various American ideologies, violating liberal neutrality, or simply exposing it for the fiction that it always was?In our bonus content for paid subscribers, Jerome discusses the National Conservative movement, as exemplified by intellectuals like Patrick Deneen and Adrian Vermeule, and its influence on Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. In the second Trump term this movement will have unprecedented access to power and, Jerome argues, pose a serious challenge to — and even a “betrayal” of — the American system.Required Reading* American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order by Jerome E. Copulsky (Amazon)* The Declaration of Independence (National Archives). * The Constitution of the United States (National Archives).* Everson v. Board of Education (FindLaw).* George Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island (National Archives). * We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition by John Courtney Murray, S.J. (Amazon).* Common Good Constitutionalism by Adrian Vermeule (Amazon).* Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future by Patrick Deneen (Amazon). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

Samuel Kimbriel, a WoC house philosopher, leads a dynamic discussion with political scientist Shadi Hamid and commentator Damir Marusic. They dive into the failures of liberalism and whether bad ideas or political strategies led to recent election setbacks. Kimbriel argues for a revitalized approach to liberalism that champions moral claims, while Marusic critiques rulership failures over ideological ones. Hamid mediates, underscoring the need for authenticity and emotional connection in politics, drawing parallels between present-day challenges and historical grievances.

Tuesday night’s election has left us with total Republican control of all three branches of government. What does this mean for the immediate future of the Republic? Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic get together to discuss. We are releasing this episode early and completely free for all subscribers.Will Donald Trump become a dictator? What is he capable of? What might be the worst aspects of his second term? Damir discusses mass deportations as the biggest risk. Shadi worries about Trump’s foreign policy in the Middle East. More than that, Shadi worries about a Donald Trump who all of the sudden has everything he’s ever wanted — a revenge victory — and finds it still unsatisfying. “What now?”Damir and Shadi are not very fond of the Harris-Walz campaign. Shadi laments that Harris never seemed comfortable on the campaign trail, and could never quite communicate authenticity. Damir says that Walz is an irrelevant politician, a “weirdo” with no discernible contribution to the Democratic cause. Two minds trying to figure out where things stand in the wake of what seems to be like a momentous election. The first of many attempts at Wisdom of Crowds where we will try to read the signs of the times.Required Reading:* Tim Alberta on the dysfunction in the Trump campaign (The Atlantic).* Politico piece why Kamala lost (Politico).* Shadi: “The Democrats can’t blame anyone but themselves this time” (Washington Post). * Turkish migrant interview (YouTube).* “What Do Men Want?” podcast with Shadi and Richard Reeves (Washington Post). * Megan McArdle, Jim Geraghty and Ramesh Ponnuru podcast: “Are Republicans Kamala-curious? Not so much.” (Washington Post). * Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and James Hohmann podcast: “Ruth Marcus, Dana Milbank and James Hohmann” (Washington Post). * Andrew Sullivan’s Election Night Notes on Substack.* Donald Trump’s interview with the Wall Street Journal editorial board.* Barack Obama roasts Donald Trump at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner (YouTube). This post is part of our collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe