Free Thoughts

Hans Noel joins us this week to share ten insights into how politics, campaigns, and political parties work.Is there such a thing as “the will of the people?” Why do political parties act the way they do? We also discuss Duverger’s Law, campaign finance, presidential elections, special interests, and grassroots movements.Show Notes and Further Reading“Ten Things Political Scientists Know that You Don’t” in Volume 8, Issue 3 of The Forum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William J. Watkins, Jr. joins us for a discussion on the Articles of Confederation and the ideas of the Anti-Federalists.Were the Articles of Confederation a failure? How did the country work under them and how is the US Constitution different? What can we learn from the Anti-Federalists?Watkins is a research fellow at the Independent Institute.Show Notes and Further ReadingWatkins’s book is Crossroads for Liberty: Recovering the Anti-Federalist Values of America’s First Constitution (2016).Trevor mentions this episode of Free Thoughts with Gary Gerstle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ryan M. Yonk joins us this week for a discussion about how we think about ecology and the environment. We talk about various environmental regulations including the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act.What counts as a “natural balance” in ecology? Is the ideal environment one with no human impact at all? What is “political entrepreneurship” and how do environmentalists use it to push for their policy goals?Show Notes and Further ReadingYonk is coauthor, along with Kenneth J. Sim and Randy T. Simmons, of Nature Unbound: Democracy vs. the Environment (2016).Trevor mentions this Free Thoughts episode, in which Van Doren suggests that the US government gift the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the Sierra Club, effectively assigning them responsibility for any economic benefits that would come from drilling for oil there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grant Babcock joins us this week to talk about an essay he wrote in defense of natural rights-based libertarianism.What are natural rights? Are they intuitive? Is radicalism in defense of rights-based approaches to libertarianism effective? Is it necessary?Show Notes and Further ReadingThis episode of Free Thoughts was inspired by Grant Babcock’s “The Robustness of Natural Rights Libertarianism: A Reply to Lindsey,” which he wrote in response to Brink Lindsey’s essay “The Poverty of Natural Rights Libertarianism.” The episode references the following texts and previous episodes of Free Thoughts:The Late, Great Libertarian Macho Flash by Michael CloudTrevor mentions this Free Thoughts episode where we get into nitty-gritty details of social contract theory.Arguments for Liberty, edited by Aaron Ross Powell and Grant BabcockMurray Rothbard, “Do You Hate the State?”Matt Zwolinski, “Libertarianism and Pollution” (SSRN paper)Order without Law by Robert EllicksonGoverning the Commons by Elinor Ostrom“Why Libertarians and Conservatives Should Stop Opposing the Welfare State” by Brink Lindsey“The Structure of a Set of Compossible Rights” by Hillel SteinerTom Palmer reviewed Steiner’s book, An Essay on Rights.“The Basis and Content of Human Rights” by Alan Gewirth“Ordering Rights Consistently: Or What We Do and Do Not Have Rights To” by Roger Pilon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher Freiman joins us to talk about his Arguments for Liberty chapter on utilitarianism. What’s the utilitarian argument for libertarianism?What is utilitarianism? How does utilitarianism interact with rights-based approaches to morality? What are the rhetorical virtues of utilitarianism?Show Notes and Further ReadingYou can read Freiman’s Arguments for Liberty chapter in full here: “A Utilitarian Case for Libertarianism”Arguments for Liberty is available here as a free .pdf and in Kindle and e-Book formats. It’s also available in paperback on Amazon.Here are a few other selections from Libertarianism.org on utilitarianism.Other Free Thoughts episodes on Arguments for Liberty:Rawlsianism with Kevin VallierKantianism with Jason Brennan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our producer, Tess Terrible, interviews Aaron and Trevor for Free Thoughts’s 200th episode. How did Free Thoughts get started, and what have we learned along the way?Show Notes and Further ReadingWe’d like to thank Russ Roberts and his EconTalk podcast for providing some of the inspiration for this show, as well as all of our listeners. We hope you’ve enjoyed the show so far and look forward to another 200 episodes! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Glaser joins us to talk about a policy shift that would save money and make the United States safer: closing some or all of America’s 800 overseas military bases.Where are these bases concentrated? Why does the military think they’re necessary? Would the world be a more dangerous place if the US wasn’t a global hegemon?Show Notes and Further ReadingIf you’re interested in this topic we encourage you to read Glaser’s policy analysis, “Withdrawing from Overseas Bases: Why a Forward-Deployed Military Posture Is Unnecessary, Outdated, and Dangerous” and his op-ed in Time, “Why We Should Close America’s Overseas Military Bases.”Other Free Thoughts episodes on foreign policy:“When Is It Appropriate to Go to War?” with Justin Logan“How Much Should We Worry About ISIS?” with Emma Ashford“America’s Authoritarian Alliances” with Ted Galen Carpenter and Malou Innocent“War Is the Health of the State” with Christopher A. Preble Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bill Emmott joins us this week to talk about his new book, The Fate of the West: The Battle to Save the World’s Most Successful Political Idea (2017).Is the West in decline and if so, can we do anything about it? Is more inequality part of what’s causing this decline? Why aren’t Western economies aren’t as dynamic as they used to be?Show Notes and Further ReadingTrevor mentions these previous Free Thoughts episodes about free speech on college campuses:“Campus Freedom” with Robby Soave“Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate” with Greg Lukianoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Bowman joins us this week to talk about political trends in the United Kingdom and in Europe more broadly. What’s a neoliberal, and how is that different from American libertarianism?What kinds of reforms are needed in European politics? Is there a connection between Brexit and Donald Trump’s election? What does a Trump presidency mean for the U.K.?Show Notes and Further ReadingHere’s the Adam Smith Institute’s website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Irwin joins us for a discussion about the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and the movie it inspired. Are consumer choices authentic choices? Where does Tyler Durden go wrong in his thinking?Show Notes and Further ReadingChuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996) is a novel that’s well-worth reading if you haven’t yet. Here’s a link to the David Fincher movie (1999) starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter.Here’s William Irwin’s essay, “Fight Club, Self-definition, and the Fragility of Authenticity.”He’s also written a short column for Libertarianism.org, “Free Market Fight Club.”Our other Free Thoughts episode with Irwin was a discussion on capitalism without consumerism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.