Democracy

It has been more than fifty years since Egyptian strongman Gamal Abdel Nasser died, but his unfortunate legacy of imposing socialism on Egypt still harms the nation and its economy.

In many ways, the liberal democracy that had its roots in nineteenth-century liberalism seems to have run its course. Can we revive it, or does something more authoritarian take its place?

Acton not only condemns absolute monarchy but unlimited majority rule as well. If anything, majority rule is worse, because it is much harder to resist.

What is the modern state? The answer to this question will—and perhaps already has—split the once unified white evangelical voting bloc.

The popular pastime of modern democracies of punishing the diligent and thrifty, while rewarding the lazy, improvident, and unthrifty, is cultivated via the State, fulfilling a demo-egalitarian program based on a demo-totalitarian ideology.

Professor Walter Block joins the show to discuss the first section of The Ethics of Liberty, and gives us his unstinting take on Rothbard's vitally important treatment of natural law philosophy. There are also lots of great Blockean anecdotes you'll want to hear!

Democracy is only acceptable when the outcome is what the ruling class wants. Fortunately, the federal courts are always handy to overturn the results of free elections. 

Patrick Newman and Tho Bishop join the show to dissect The Betrayal of the American Right, which is both a critical history and a fascinating political memoir of Rothbard's own journey to libertarianism.

Thankfully for the American right, there is another alternative to the neoconservatism of William Buckley, the neoliberalism of Milton Friedman, and the paleo-progressivism of Teddy Roosevelt: the libertarian populism of Murray Rothbard.

With his latest book, George Will has inched back toward his libertarian roots. But he is still far too enamored of the Tory paternalism that has long infected his work.