Topic: Philosophy

Art and Culture, Economic History, Philosophy, Property Rights

20th Century Ideology, Modern Mixed Economies

– April 4, 2024

“Neither the Chinese communists nor the Russian communists ever redistributed significant resources from the able to the needy. If anything, they did the reverse.” ~John Goodman

Authoritarianism, Books, Classical Liberalism, Philosophy

To Remain Free, Make the Ordinary Meaningful

– March 25, 2024

“Those who don’t take responsibility for making meaning in their lives can become the worst among us.” ~Barry Brownstein

Fiscal Policy, Leadership, Philosophy

Heaps of Trouble

– March 14, 2024

“The reason sorites logic is so difficult to diffuse is that there is no obvious line or threshold to be established somewhere between the incremental steps that begin with a budget surplus and end with a budget consumed by interest payments.” ~Jimmy Alfonso Licon

Economic History, Free Trade, Philosophy

Division of Labor Makes Us Wealthy…And Fragile

– March 8, 2024

“Our dependence on the ability to serve others in highly specialized ways is contingent on the rest of the system working constantly and efficiently. Our shrinking command of general competence puts us at greater risk.” ~Michael Munger

Authoritarianism, Classical Liberalism, Philosophy

Why Solzhenitsyn’s Line Between Good and Evil Matters

– March 7, 2024

“The extended social order created by the free market expands our opportunities to cooperate with others, and crucially, accepts human nature for what it is.” ~Barry Brownstein

Economic Education, Philosophy, Policy

Arguments Against The Death Penalty and Gun Control Have A Few Things in Common

– January 24, 2024

“We can’t say, ‘There is no point, because the average criminal won’t obey the law.’ Just because the average criminal doesn’t obey the law, that does not mean the marginal criminal won’t.” ~Art Carden

Books, Classical Liberalism, Philosophy

You Can’t Find Your Innocence By Hating Others

– January 7, 2024

“The mass State has no intention of promoting mutual understanding and the relationship of man to man; it strives, rather, for atomization, for the psychic isolation of the individual. The more unrelated individuals are, the more consolidated the State becomes.” ~Barry Brownstein

Classical Liberalism, Economic History, Government, Philosophy

When Liberal Became a Political Adjective

– December 24, 2023

“Before the 1770s, liberal meant generous, munificent, as in “with a liberal hand,” or tolerant and befitting a free man, as in liberal arts and liberal sciences. Those meanings were not political.” ~Daniel Klein

Classical Liberalism, Philosophy, Policy

When Progressives and Conservatives Compete, Agnostics Win

– December 22, 2023

“While progressives and conservatives duel in the arena of certainties and are willing to place individual liberties on hold in support of their social ambitions, agnostics navigate an ever-shifting political landscape with a compass turned always toward the polestar of individual liberty.” ~Paul

Books, Classical Liberalism, Philosophy

Marcus Aurelius on Snowplows, Sports, and Freedom

– December 21, 2023

“Our freedom depends on voluntary human cooperation. The Stoics offer practical wisdom for promoting freedom by helping you remove your internal barriers to cooperating with others.” ~Barry Brownstein

Classical Liberalism, Environmentalism, Philosophy, Regulation

Thinking About the Regulation of Industrial Emissions Differently, Part II

– November 27, 2023

“All we know here is that humans are innovative and have a great capacity to creatively meet challenges without being prodded by politicians or mandarins. But no one can predict in detail how this creativity will manifest itself.” ~Donald J. Boudreaux

Art and Culture, Philosophy, Podcast, Socialism

How Did the Social Justice Movement Take Hold?

– November 17, 2023

Join Kate Wand and Barry Brownstein as they discuss the ideological roots of the contemporary social justice movement, emerging from a zero-sum political philosophy of grievance.