Tom Woods Show, Archive 2

Here's what I said at the 2013 Illinois Libertarian Convention. What should we do? How do we define success? Should we be radical or should we moderate our message to reach more people? Lots of fun in this one.

Today I talk a bit about several of my books, and how I was able to reach people with them and with my promotional work whom we could not otherwise have reached. Fun and horrifying stories galore.

We hear a lot about wealth and income inequality, but what's the truth of the matter? And does it make a difference? Bob Murphy and I hash it all out in an episode of our podcast Contra Krugman, which in this episode I share with the Tom Woods Show audience.

Your local police department is said to provide a service that we could never expect to arise in the private sector. But the Detroit Threat Management Center, a private and voluntary organization, has cut down on violent crime and made a point of defusing dangerous situations without violence. You'll love this one.

A lot of people say: I've got a good grasp of the ideas, so what are our next steps? Jeff Deist joins me to discuss various libertarian strategies, and which are the most promising.

The late Justice Antonin Scalia played a profoundly significant role in elevating "original understanding" jurisprudence into a position that even its opponents had to reckon with. Kevin Gutzman joins me to discuss some of Scalia's most important work.

The efflorescence of classical Greece was a period of enormous historical significance. How is this level of achievement and prosperity to be accounted for? We can't rely on explanations like climate or slavery that applied to many other, far less successful, civilizations. So what was it?

Lew Rockwell joins me for more debate analysis, this time of the February 13, 2016 debate in South Carolina. Unlike some previous debates, plenty of controversy and fireworks in this one. Enjoy!

Stephan Kinsella joins me to discuss negative/positive rights and obligations, "loser pays," whether creation makes you an owner, how we can consider spam aggression, and more. Fun!

We talk about some in this episode, and Brion McClanahan covers a whole lot more in his killer new book. Down with presidential idolatry!

The brilliant Ron Unz, himself a Harvard alumnus, is spearheading a twofold campaign, pushing a slate of candidates to the Harvard Board of Overseers to (1) abolish tuition and (2) be more transparent about the admissions process, since it seems fairly obvious that Harvard is using a quota system. The proposal to abolish tuition may sound quixotic or even weird, but since tuition receipts are a tiny percentage of what Harvard earns from its endowment, it makes sense. Decide for yourself!

It's considered bad form to criticize Milton Friedman -- why, you must be some kind of "libertarian purist"! But if you can't be a libertarian purist on the Tom Woods Show, where can you be? Walter Block and I look at the good and the bad about Milton Friedman.

Lew Rockwell joins me for another debate analysis! The second-place slot is fluid in New Hampshire right now, so this debate could prove crucial.

What's wrong with the GOP? My guest and I agree there's a lot wrong, but we're not always agreed as to what that is. We have a freewheeling discussion of populism, noninterventionism, localism, Trump, Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and more. Enjoy!

Defenders of capitalism often wind up making arguments that implicitly concede the moral superiority of socialism -- sure, socialism is a fine system, but we can't live up to it. What kind of defense of capitalism is that? Jason Brennan makes a powerful moral case for capitalism that avoids this pitfall.

Rand Paul dropped out of the presidential race today, so I invited Dan McCarthy, editor of The American Conservative, to join me for a discussion of that decision, of the Rand Paul campaign in general, and why we may be looking at the nomination of Rubio now, believe it or not.

Within what we might call establishment libertarianism there is almost an allergy to Murray Rothbard, the great libertarian polymath. Who was Rothbard, anyway, and what exactly is going on here?

Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, recently proposed a series of amendments to the U.S. Constitution. As it turns out, they're actually pretty good. Would they help? Brion McClanahan joins me to figure it all out.

Who's up and who's down after last night's GOP debate? Lew Rockwell joins me for another of our debate commentary episodes!

I'm without a guest in this episode, and taking apart yet another critique of libertarianism. Enjoy!