The Curious Task

Daniel Weinstock makes the case for lowering the voting age and extending the right to vote to teens who have much more in common with the general voting public than we may think. Episode Notes: Daniel Weinstock - “What’s So Funny about Voting Rights for Children?”, in Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, vol. 18, no. 2 (2021), pp. 751 – 771. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/public-policy-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2021/09/Weinstock.pdf  Kant’s views on voting rights and the “underclasses” https://academic.oup.com/book/4831/chapter-abstract/147152492?redirectedFrom=fulltext  Rousseau on “the general will” and deliberation, the force of the better argument. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/#PoliPhil  John Stewart Mill on weighted votes and plural voting https://www.jstor.org/stable/26220010  “Votes for children! Why we should lower the voting age to six” by David Runciman https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/16/reconstruction-after-covid-votes-for-children-age-six-david-runciman   

Alex speaks with Professor Jacob Levy about the concept of neutrality within the history of liberalism and how many historical thinkers have approached the subject within that tradition.  Episode Notes: Michael Oakeshott on “adverbial rules” https://lawliberty.org/forum/michael-oakeshott-on-the-rule-of-law-and-the-liberal-order/  John Locke’s religious beliefs https://rb.gy/1yg43  Heresy of Americanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americanism_(heresy)  Deirdre McCloskey’s Bourgeois Virtues Thesis https://www.deirdremccloskey.com/docs/bv_selection.pdf  Ronald Dworkin “Liberalism” https://www.scribd.com/document/313373358/Ronald-Dworkin-Liberalism#  Stephanie Slade, "Must Libertarians Care About More Than the State?" https://reason.com/2022/03/19/two-libertarianisms/  Alexis De Toqueville’s concerns about the rising liberal democratic order https://www.economist.com/schools-brief/2018/08/09/de-tocqueville-and-the-french-exception  John Stuart Mill “On Liberty” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Liberty 

Alex speaks with Aurelian Craiutu about the importance of moderation when it comes to virtue, political discourse, and the balancing of extremes in a world full of radicals.    Episode Notes:    Aurelian Craiutu - Why Not Moderation? Letters to Young Radicals https://a.co/d/1LVcadG Aurelian Craiutu - Faces of Moderation: The Art of Balance in an Age of Extremes  https://a.co/d/6cVwv5F  Thomas Osborne - Moderation as Government: Montesquieu and the Divisibility of Power  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10848770.2023.2172780  The Golden Mean in Philosophy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_mean_(philosophy)  The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence Paperback by Balthasar Gracian https://a.co/d/hgyXcYG  The 48 Laws of Power Paperback by Robert Greene   https://a.co/d/96ifKoz  A Propensity to Self-Subversion by Albert O. Hirschman https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674715585 

Alex speaks with Jason Kuznicki about the societal tendency towards stagnation - and away from liberalism - and its roots in some of the earliest human civilizations.  References 1. “Technology and the End of Authority: What Is Government For?” by Jason Kuznicki Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Technology-End-Authority-What-Government/dp/3319486918  2. Jason’s previous episode “What Is Government For?” on The Curious Task  Link: https://thecurioustask.podbean.com/e/ep-12-jason-kuznicki-%e2%80%94-what-is-government-for/  3. “The Domus Mindset: The Origins of Civilization, the Ruling Class, and Why It’s so Hard to Think About Freedom” by Jason Kuznicki Link: https://pacification.substack.com/p/the-domus-mindset  4. “The Future and Its Enemies: The Growing Conflict Over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress” by Virginia Postrel Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Future-Its-Enemies-Creativity-Enterprise/dp/0684862697

Alex speaks with Monica Guzman about the need for curiosity as a remedy for the increasing polarization in American discourse and her recent book on the subject "I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times" Monica's book: https://a.co/d/j6xKME7 

Alex and Nolan discuss a novel solution to many of the difficult issues surrounding housing in North America: the elimination of zoning laws. Further Reading and References: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/06/zoning-housing-affordability-nimby-parking-houston/661289/ https://reason.com/2022/06/21/abolish-zoning-all-of-it/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-04/how-houston-s-zoning-can-help-hurricane-harvey-recovery https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-26/manufactured-homes-are-the-cheap-housing-fix-we-need https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-28/cities-don-t-use-zoning-to-exclude-families-with-kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRUbDvMpyCM&ab_channel=VancouverPublicLibrary https://marketurbanism.com/2018/07/30/how-should-we-interpret-jane-jacobs/ https://marketurbanism.com/2016/02/21/who-plans-jane-jacobs-hayekian-critique-of-urban-planning/ https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/121786-jane-jacobs-and-zoning

Alex and Mike Munger discuss two strains of thought within the liberty movement - one concerned with philosophical purity and cohesion, the other with advancement towards a common ideal of greater freedom for all.  Episode Notes: Mike's article "The Right Kind of Nothing": https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-right-kind-of-nothing/ An introduction to Coasian bargaining: http://www.ejolt.org/2015/09/coasian-bargaining-2/  The Piece commissioned by Leonard Read by Milton Friedman and George Stigler on Rent Control: https://fee.org/resources/roofs-or-ceilings-the-current-housing-problem/  Mike Munger's piece "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" https://www.aier.org/article/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things-directionalists-vs-destinationists/  James Buchanan on Relatively Absolute Absolutes https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11127-021-00883-0 

Alex and Dennis discuss the very colorful character who, unbeknownst to many, wrote the American Constitution.  Episode Notes: Dennis' book "The Constitution's Penman" https://a.co/d/iKnulei  The American Constitution https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript The Federalist Papers https://www.congress.gov/resources/display/content/The+Federalist+Papers Roosevelt's biography of Morris bit.ly/3zEEVlU Gouverneur Morris' speech on the franchise for slaves:  https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1787-gouverner-morris-curse-slavery/  William Pierce's description of Morris: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/resource/convention/delegates/morris_g/#:~:text=William%20Pierce%20stated%20that%20%E2%80%9CMr,Morris.%E2%80%9D     

Alex and Sabine speak about the state of classical liberalism in terms of individual rights and economic freedom in Canada today. Works referenced: Hayek's "Why I Am Not A Conservative": https://press.uchicago.edu/books/excerpt/2011/hayek_constitution.html   

Alex speaks with Noah Schwartz about gun control in Canada and how recent attempts to review firearms policy have failed to address root issues and the causes of violence and crime. References 1. “On Target: Gun Culture, Storytelling, and the NRA” by Noah Schwartz Link: https://www.amazon.ca/Target-Gun-Culture-Storytelling-NRA/dp/1487548443/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=  2. “Firearms Act, 1995” by Justice Laws Website Link: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/f-11.6/  3. “Firearms Licensing” by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Link: https://rcmp.ca/en/firearms/licensing  4. “A Right to Bear Arms? Canadian Cases” by Leonid Sirota Link: https://doubleaspect.blog/2012/04/15/a-right-to-bear-arms-canadian-cases/  5. “Nova Scotia Shooting Incident - Timeline” by Public Safety Canada Link: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/trnsprnc/brfng-mtrls/prlmntry-bndrs/20200730/021/index-en.aspx  6. “Bill C-21” by the Parliament of Canada Link: https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-21