In this episode I explore the history of the idea that society can more or less run itself, that there are certain observable regularities in our relationships with one another, particularly in commerce, that cannot be interfered with without negative consequences, and do not actually… Read More
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Ep. 1337 Tough Libertarian Questions: Blackmail, Bridges, and Outer Space
Walter Block, who holds the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Chair at Loyola University in New Orleans, joins me to discuss some particularly tricky questions for libertarians. About the Guest Walter Block holds an endowed chair in economics at Loyola University New Orleans. Books Mentioned Space Capitalism: How Humans will Colonize Planets, Moons, and Asteroids ,… Read More
Ep. 1336 Obamacare Unconstitutional? District Court Judge Says So
Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, discusses the grounds on which U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor found Obamacare unconstitutional. We discuss John Roberts’ decision for the Supreme Court as well. Sponsor Skillshare is an online learning community with over 25,000… Read More
Ep. 1335 The Myth of Religious Violence
That’s a provocative title, to be sure. Author William Cavanaugh, a professor at DePaul University, is not saying that what we recognize to be religious beliefs can never inspire violence. What he is saying — and I won’t spoil the episode by spelling out his… Read More
Ep. 1334 The Government’s War on Affordable Housing
We hear lots of calls for “affordable housing,” and much less discussion about what might be making housing not so affordable. Ryan McMaken of the Mises Institute shows that — surprise — the government’s fingerprints are all over this problem. Sponsor Harry’s razors, the official razors of… Read More
Ep. 1333 The Tom Woods Guide to Seceding From Everything
Looking over many Tom Woods Show episodes, I discovered a common theme: finding freedom in an unfree world. It’s not true that we libertarians only complain. We build. So I talk secession from: the screwed-up American health care system, the monetary system, the education system,… Read More
Ep. 1332 Should Libertarians Support Secession?
Historian Brion McClanahan joins me to discuss an article on secession, particularly on the nineteenth-century southern secession, that makes the rounds every once in a while in fashionable libertarian circles. Libertarians can’t support secession across the board, the author says, because some seceding states intend… Read More
Ep. 1331 Do We Need the State for the Sake of the Vulnerable?
In one of my Twitter exchanges I came across a fellow who thought the vulnerable would be worse off under libertarianism since they’d be less likely to have access to education, etc. Since a lot of people think this way, I thought I’d address issues… Read More
Ep. 1330 The State Retards Progress and Peace
Richard Cobden, the nineteenth-century pro-trade, noninterventionist member of Parliament, once said, “The progress of freedom depends more upon the maintenance of peace and the spread of commerce and the diffusion of education than upon the labor of Cabinets or Foreign Offices.” I take this one… Read More
Ep. 1329 Lawyers Against the State
Today I talk to Ethan Blevins with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which does pro bono work for people wronged by the state. Crazy laws and regulations in left-wing Seattle keep these folks pretty busy, but they take on cases all over that part of the… Read More
