Recent Podcast Episodes
How I Survived Travel to a “Democracy” Where I Had No Vote
If democracy is so fundamental, shouldn’t we all have a vote in every place we set foot, from Sunbury, Alaska, to Monaco?
The Election Was a Tie. Now What?
The winner doesn’t represent “the nation.” There is no consensus. We’re not coming together “as a people.” These tired slogans should now strike every intelligent person as nonsense.
The Idea that Democracy Is the Same as Liberty Is a Weapon in the Hands of Despots
Probably no other belief is now so much a threat to liberty… as the one that democracy, by itself alone, guarantees liberty.
Election 2020: A Cynical First Look at the Results
Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop discuss the failure of the pollsters, the imaginary Blue Wave, and the end of naive democracy.
Why Threats of Election Violence May Be Here to Stay
A repeated pattern of close elections accompanied by threats of violence (or actual violence) is a sign that something is wrong with a nation's political system.
Three States Libertarian Voters May Decide
While the libertarian electorate is not as popular a topic as it once was, it could actually be a very important demographic this year.
The Benefits of Secession Are Becoming Increasingly Obvious
"Countries threaten to split apart when their people seem hopelessly divided…. We’re less united today than we’ve been at any time since the Civil War."
Close Elections Force Us to Ask Unpleasant Questions about Democracy
A very close or contested election would remind us that elections do not demonstrate "the will of the people" and that national unity is founded on some very fragile myths.
Jeff Deist on Hoppe’s Democracy: The God That Failed
Jeff Deist finishes his series on Hoppe's devastating classic with a look at the final chapters, critiquing conservatism, liberalism, and constitutionalism.
Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem Exposes a Big Problem with Democracy
Kenneth Arrow showed in 1951 that the entire project of social choice theory rested on quicksand.
Preelection Survey: What Is This Election About?
We asked several Mises Institute scholars and writers to come together to discuss the themes running through the 2020 election race and the most important policy issues for the American presidency. Here’s what they had to say.
Will a Nonpolitical “Silent Majority” Stop the Left?
Projections have the 2020 election seeing record-high turnout. Conventional wisdom views this as a win for Joe Biden, but could conventional wisdom be wrong?
Want to Make Drugs Less Lethal? Legalize Them.
With new legalization measures coming to the ballot box, voters have the opportunity to take steps that would reduce the drive to make drugs stronger and more potent, and more deadly.
Jeff Deist on the Religiosity of Election Day
Jeff Deist joins David Gornoski on A Neighbor's Choice to talk about the religiosity of democratic elections, revolutions as late-stage statism, postmodernism as a recipe for social unrest, the great reset, and more.
A Collection of Bovardian Epigrams
Wisdom from James Bovard on the train wreck that is American democracy.
Populism Worked for the Pro-Freedom Party in the Past. Can It Work Again?
Is it still possible to "rouse the masses of people against the elites that are looting them" in effective numbers? As late as 1992, Rothbard thought so. And he had historical examples on his side.
Yes, the Nazis Were Socialists
Contrary to popular assertions, the Nazis weren't only trying to expropriate Jewish wealth. They wanted the German people to come together as a collective entity, and this entailed socialism.
No, the American Republic Was Not Founded on Slavery
The fact that some Americans supported slavery in the eighteenth century is not at all remarkable. Most of the world agreed with them. What is remarkable is that many of them sought to abolish slavery in the new republic.
How to Limit Social Media’s Power without Growing Government
Doing what we can to help narrow Section 230 immunities back to a free speech interpretation could solve this while actually reducing government involvement in speech.
