Cato Event Podcast

A “ruling class” has emerged in America against the hopes and designs of our Founding Fathers. Over the last hundred years, members of that class have rejected the Constitution and expanded their own power, slowly at first and now rapidly. These people believe their actions are justified because they think they are smarter than the rest of us—so smart they can run our lives better than we can.But for all the power and resources at their command, they have failed. Miserably. Society has become increasingly unequal, even as we’re promised “equality.” Our government finances are out of control, our basic infrastructure is broken, and education is unaffordable and mediocre. And yet the ruling class thinks the solution is for us to grant them ever more control.We can stop this—but to do so we must unite. In Conspiracies of the Ruling Class, Lawrence Lindsey lays out his plan for how we can use common sense to change the way our country is run. Finally, here is the truth from a Washington insider about how to reawaken the spirit upon which America was founded, with liberty for every person to pursue his or her own dreams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Overdoses from heroin and prescription painkillers have killed an alarming number of Americans in recent years. Last month, President Obama announced a $1.1 billion package to combat opiod abuse. Some analysts say the federal government is not doing enough to attack heroin production in Mexico and Afghanistan. Others argue that drug interdiction and police crackdowns have failed and call for deregulation and legalization. Please join us for a wide-ranging debate about the heroin problem and what to do about it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that claimed tens of millions of lives from 1958–1962, Mao Zedong launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation and eliminate those he viewed as a threat to his legacy. The stated goal of the Cultural Revolution was to purge China of its bourgeoisie and remaining capitalists. The Cultural Revolution soon resulted in street fighting between rival factions. As China descended into chaos, the military intervened, turning the country into a garrison state marked by bloody purges that killed as many as one in 50 people. After the army itself fell victim to the Cultural Revolution, ordinary people used the political chaos to resurrect the market and hollow out the party's ideology. In short, they buried Maoism. Please join us for a discussion of the horrors of the Cultural Revolution and its unintended consequences. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a young man, David Coltart was urged by Robert Mugabe to return from South Africa to Zimbabwe, where Coltart rose to become senator and education minister. But, as Mugabe became increasingly dictatorial, Coltart became one of Mugabe’s favorite targets of vilification. Coltart was branded a traitor to the state and worthy of remaining in Zimbabwe only as a resident of one of its prisons. For three decades, Coltart has kept detailed notes and records of all his work, including a meticulous diary of cabinet meetings. Coltart’s book deals with the last 60 years of Zimbabwe’s history: from the obstinate rule of Ian Smith that provoked Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1965, to the civil war of the 1970s, the Gukurahundi genocide of the 1980s, Robert Mugabe’s war on white landowners, and the struggles waged by Coltart’s party — the Movement for Democratic Change. Coltart will also discuss one of his key concerns: the role of political extremists who have consistently subverted Zimbabwe’s chances of realizing its true potential. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Constitution begins with the words “We the People.” But from our earliest days there have been two competing notions of “the People,” leading to two very different constitutional visions. Those who view “We the People” collectively think popular sovereignty resides in the people as a group, which leads them to favor a democratic constitution that allows the will of the people to be expressed by majority rule. In contrast, those who think popular sovereignty resides in the people as individuals contend that a republican constitution is needed to secure the preexisting inalienable rights of “We the People,” each and every one, against abuses by the majority. In his latest book, with a foreword by George Will, Randy Barnett explains why “We the People” would greatly benefit from the renewal of our republican Constitution, and how this can be accomplished in the courts and the political arena. Please join us for a discussion of this important new book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please join us as Michael Mandelbaum—prominent columnist and author, and a leading foreign-policy thinker—discusses his new book, Mission Failure: America and the World in the Post–Cold War Era. In this definitive work, Mandelbaum critically assesses American military interventions since the end of the Cold War and the deeply flawed post–Cold War efforts to promote American values and American institutions throughout the world. Each intervention was designed to transform local economic and political systems, and each, argues Mandelbaum, failed. It is, he writes, “the story of good, sometimes noble, and thoroughly American intentions coming up against the deeply embedded, often harsh, and profoundly un-American realities of places far from the United States.” In these encounters, he concludes, "the realities prevailed." We hope you will be able to join us for what will be a provocative and highly illuminating event. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are witnessing the dawn of a robotics revolution. In the future, robots will undergo exponential growth in terms of their ability and application. What does that mean for human employment and productivity growth? What about incomes, leisure time, and the overall standard of living? Randy Bateman believes that, as was the case in the Industrial Revolution, robots will initially assist rather than displace human workers. Afterwards, however, there will be a great economic upheaval and a realignment of employment and tax policies. On the flip side, dangerous, dirty, and demeaning jobs will be eliminated. The two thirds of the planet that is ocean can be more widely explored and exploited. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the Cold War wound down, the United States initiated a new conflict—a war for the greater Middle East. From the Balkans and East Africa to the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, U.S. forces embarked upon a series of campaigns across the Islamic world with no end in sight. In his aptly titled new book, America’s War for the Greater Middle East, Andrew Bacevich connects the dots of a sweeping narrative from episodes as varied as the Beirut bombing of 1983, the Mogadishu firefight of 1993, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the rise of ISIS in the present decade. Indeed, Bacevich claims that America’s costly military interventions can only be understood when seeing the seemingly discrete events as part of a single war. Is he right? Or are America’s military adventures in the Middle East discrete occurrences driven by the unique circumstances of the moment? Is it really one big, long war, or many? Join us to find out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are revolutionizing the way we think about government currency monopolies, transferring money across the globe, maintaining financial privacy and security, and verifying ownership of money or potentially everything. Their place in society and the financial system is rapidly expanding and with it a host of hopes, questions, and risks. Will they provide financial security outside of government systems, or will consumers be unprotected from losses? Will they ensure financial privacy or enable criminal activity? Will they replace central banking or serve as a new tool for monetary management? And will government regulations encourage, discourage, or remain neutral to these emerging and transformative technologies? Join us for a day-long conference considering the policy implications of the decentralized cryptocurrency revolution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are revolutionizing the way we think about government currency monopolies, transferring money across the globe, maintaining financial privacy and security, and verifying ownership of money or potentially everything. Their place in society and the financial system is rapidly expanding and with it a host of hopes, questions, and risks. Will they provide financial security outside of government systems, or will consumers be unprotected from losses? Will they ensure financial privacy or enable criminal activity? Will they replace central banking or serve as a new tool for monetary management? And will government regulations encourage, discourage, or remain neutral to these emerging and transformative technologies? Join us for a day-long conference considering the policy implications of the decentralized cryptocurrency revolution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.