The Mindcrime Liberty Show with Dobson and Patton

Ep. 143: Are extremists more logical than moderates?

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses whether the extremists are more logical and clear than moderates? On a variety of issues it seems that those with the extreme viewpoints are more clear than those who are considered moderate. Is this merely a kind of genetic horseshoe fallacy or do the extremists have a commitment to consistency and rigor that “the adults in the room” don’t have? Extremists are often painted by the mainstream as being unintelligent un-nuanced persons but based on certain research, those with higher intelligence tend to hold extreme economic views. Is this the case in most areas? Do the Taliban, Leninists, Black Panthers, Maoists, Double Predestination Calvinists, Sedevacantists, Universalists, Southern Antebellum fire eaters, Jacobins, certain Feminists and Rothbardian anarchists have a kind of intellectual clarity that the moderate representatives of the positions don’t have? Are there any virtues to holding a middle position especially if it's an unprincipled compromise as Walter Block describes? Does history only remember the extremists? Do we only ever read so called extremists? Are extremist positions unliveable for the vast majority who work for and manage the state bureaucracy, state military, mainstream church or megacorps?

Ep. 142: How would an ideal society deal with low ability persons?

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses what an ideal, or libertarian, society ought to do with those of low abilities? One can dispute whether there would be as many in an ideal society with a freed market and stateless institutions; however, it seems that there would be a class of persons who aren’t competitive. Christians of the left and the right often times criticize libertarians for not caring about the poor namely not supporting welfare and various social programs. Libertarians would be quick to counter that many of the so-called programs are not effective and are probably harmful such as the mass schooling system as described by thinkers like Ivan Illich and Brian Caplan. Welfare itself is a system of warehousing the poor as Michel Foucault argues and destroys mutual aid networks by replacing it with State bureaucracy. What are some solutions for this problem and why would a libertarian society have less of them?

Ep. 141: Why do people get out of bed? What counts as coercive violence? #UBI #LeftLibs

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses why do people get out of bed in the morning and what counts as coercive violence? Would coercive violence to force people to work exist in a stateless or an ideal society? Why do people get out of bed and work in the current existing world? Is work necessary to have a society? Does work make people happier? Assuming a society of UBI welfare is possible, would it be a tyranny? Should people work less in order to get more leisure time? If people aren’t working or raising children, why do people get out of bed?

Ep. 140: Rik Storey vs David Bentley Hart & RC Sproul on Free Will & Sin.

The Mindcrime Liberty show is joined by Rik Storey to discuss whether sin exists.  One of the more common maneuvers is to state that sin exists because free will exists, thus, in order to explain sin one must explain free will. Our guest Rik Storey defends free will as being integral to his understanding of Catholic Christianity. What are the limitations of free will and who are some Christian theists who are opposed to this view? Do the so-called extremes of modern theology represented by the American Calvinists RC Sproul and universalists David Bentley Hart agree that free will doesn’t exist? Why would any free healthy creature choose anything but God?  Why does anyone purposely and freely choose evil or destructive actions?   Ignorance and love of evil?  Why would God allow this?  Is God an open theist? Does god construct a world of character building theodicies which he is uncertain of the outcome? Is God's sovereignty as defined by Aquinas and others  incompatible with creaturely free will?

Ep 139: Will Israel end up like East Prussia? Ft. Keith Preston.

The Mindcrime Liberty Show is joined by Keith Preston to discuss the long term status of Israel by using East Prussia as an analogy. East Prussia used to exist as a major port and was one of the causes of the German invasion of Poland but now is Polish/Russian Federation territory with hardly any German inhabitants. Will Israel cease to exist in this fashion? Is Israel dependent on the US for its military position and what is the long term trajectory of that support considering that the US is taking a moderate isolationist turn as Zeihan describes? Despite that support, does the US paradoxically “restrain” Israel? Is the Samson nuclear option a genuine threat? Can Israel maintain internal cohesion considering Netanyahu’s unpopularity as well as the fact that significant numbers of Orthodox practitioners view the state as incompatible with scripture and refuse to serve in the military?

Ep. 138 Professional Sports, Women and Transgenderism

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses why no thinking person of the Right should care about transmen competing in women's sports leagues. Sports themselves, and its rise, are quite important for males of all ages in developed industrialized societies as both an outlet and a venue for athletic excellence. Elite sporting leagues are a necessary Platonic ideal embodying that excellence and shouldn’t have a protected category for anyone especially woman considering that mainstream culture wants to hold them as equals. If feminists want no male spaces then women shouldn’t get any protected female spaces either. In almost no sporting league with an open draft would any team (American style football, baseball, soccer/European football, running or swimming) would the top team be made up of women. Ronda Rousy has refused to fight any top end male and within the UFC “transmen” have dominated biological females. One can criticize the existence of mass sports themselves, although that criticism we further debate, but no thinking person on the right should care about this issue.

 

Ep 137: Defending the Undefendable: The NSA and Mass Surveillance

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses surveillance. If one isn’t doing anything wrong should one care about surveillance and spying? Can one have privacy in the modern world if one chooses to participate in its various technologies? How private was the past? Should one expect privacy and is it a genuine right?

Ep. 136: Are organized crime gangs states? feat. Keith Preston

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses with Keith Preston whether organized crime and street gangs are like states/megacorps. What is the relationship between street gangs, organized crime and the formal state? Is Thaddeus Russell right in that crime gangs have provided America (and elsewhere) a steady stream of goods/services that the formal society outlaws and thereby a kind of material freedom? In the US, gangs provided alcohol during prohibition and in certain state socialist countries there was a trade in iconography/religious artifacts. Do certain gangs and organized crime syndicates resemble the state itself? Do they rival the state in certain areas or are they even the de facto “State” such as in parts of Somalia, Russia, Mexico and Lebanon?. In certain areas the police/state might not be the most powerful monopolist in power even in so-called first world countries. What should libertarians and anarchists think about these organizations?

Ep. 135: The Essence of the Political: the Right, Carl Schmitt and the State Ft. Lukas Eidolon

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses Carl Schmitt with Lukas Eidolon of Metanaissance. What can one, in particular libertarians and anarchists, learn from Schmitt’s concept of the political? Why has the friend/enemy distinction been such a relevant concept? What would Schmitt think of Thomas Hobbes and vice versa? Is trying to abolish the state unrealistic? Does the sovereign actually have truly independent power? https://metanaissance.com/

Ep. 134: Do intellectuals and environmentalists want to reduce the world’s population?

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses whether environmentalists would prefer a world with fewer people. Environmentalists of the Left as well as the Right have pursued a variety of policies in particular forms of birth control as well as higher education for girls which has lowered the birthrate in most, if not all, industrialized developed countries. Intellectuals like JS Mill spent a night in prison for the crime of distributing materials related to birth control and abortion. Many traditional people of the Right have complained about the effects of industrialization and urbanization on the family as well as its secularization tendency. Aristotle seems to suggest that a polis over a 100,000 persons is simply too big to govern with his ideal form of government. Would plenty of intellectuals prefer a smaller population? If people are a good thing isn’t it great that industrial modernity has more of them? What would be the ideal population?