Politics

Authoritarianism panel tomorrow: Kelley, Friedenberg, Salsman

Leave a Comment / Politics /

I’ll be moderating a panel of heavy hitters on the theme of The Rise of Authoritarianism. Psychologist Jay Friedman (Manhattan College), philosopher David Kelley (Ph.D., Princeton University), and economist Richard Salsman (Duke University) will take up what authoritarianism is, whether it’s an increasing threat, if so why, and what we should do to advance genuine […]

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Hicks on “Can socialism be democratic?” [Waterfall]

Leave a Comment / Ethics, Socialism /

The second Waterfall course: Socialism. Examine the aspirations, arguments, strategies, and disasters of socialist theory and practice—as well as explore the strongest criticisms of socialism. Authors include Ayn Rand, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Robert Heilbroner, Alan Charles Kors, George Orwell, Michael Harrington, Ludwig von Mises, Steven Horwitz, and C.S. Lewis. This week’s Waterfall features my

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On accepting government grants, paybacks, subsidies (and the PPP in particular)

5 Comments / Ethics, Politics /

A number of free-society individuals and organizations I’m involved with have been arguing about whether it’s appropriate to participate in the US government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), devised in response to the Covid-19 disruptions, shut-downs, and lockdowns. That particular program’s issues raise also more general issues of government funds. So: my thoughts. (Speaking only for

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On Princeton’s re-naming the Woodrow Wilson school

1 Comment / Education, Politics /

I agree with the university’s decision to drop Wilson’s name. The man’s anti-individualism came in many terrible versions: racist, socialist, and statist-democratic. Here’s Professor Wilson, before he became President, endorsing democratic socialism: ‘State socialism’ … proposes that all idea of a limitation of public authority by individual rights be put out of view, and that

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The new street-populists: Ignorance plus Faith-conditioning plus Moralistic fervor plus Mob psychology.

8 Comments / Politics, Psychology /

Not just one thing explains the new wave of street-populism. Five constituent types, with different levels of understanding and commitment: 1. The mass of protesters: Especially the younger: conditioned by semi- and mis-education, though sometimes with a partial understanding of a real problem. Their moral beliefs stand as unquestionable dogmas of faith in their minds.

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Violent Politics — The Lesson of Marxist Philosophy [Open College transcript]

Leave a Comment / Philosophy, Socialism /

We’re now posting serially at thinkspot the transcripts of my Open College podcasts. Here’s the second: OC2: Violent Politics — The Lesson of Marxist Philosophy “For Marxism, the democratic process is a pointless sham.” Audio versions of the podcast are available free at my website, YouTube, Bitchute, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud. To cover additional production costs, the

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