The Mindcrime Liberty Show with Dobson and Patton

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses the death penalty by inverting the usual way it is discussed: is it more humane then life in prison? If punishment in itself is just and an institution or individual desires to carry it out, which is the best form? Generally punishment is done for reasons of justice, isolation or deterrence. Maybe punishment in itself is unjust but if a heinous act occurs (some...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show is joined by Terminal Philosophy to discuss whether ad hominem arguments are useful. The ad hominem fallacy as well as the closely related whataboutism point is routinely viewed as an invalid form of argumentation. It is not a logical inconsistency rather a pragmatic inconsistency. In best practice, it is pointing out that the person does the very thing that they are aga...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show is joined by Keith Preston to discuss whether a society without elites or a ruling class could exist? What exactly are elites and do they occur in most societies? Is there such a thing as a non-exploitative “elite”? Is Hayek right in why the worst get on top? If having power over others is the defining feature of elites what exactly is the power that they have? Where doe...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses, what is the purpose of drug use? By drugs we mean so-called recreational drugs and alcohol. Debates on what drugs are medicinal and what are recreational are quite fraught, but regardless, why do people use them? Do people use them to escape a bad reality? Do they use them for fun? Are the drug and alcohol prohibitionists right in that it ruins lives? Is Brave...

The Mindcrime liberty show discusses whether “liberalism” is escapable? There are many similar words to describe the current ruling order and they can include what we used in our title, liberalism, as well as crony capitalism, late capitalism, liberal democracy or neoliberalism. It is true that Murray Rothbard wouldn’t call our current society pure capitalistic; however, the anti capitalists would...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show is joined by Natty to discuss, what is a woman? What is the biological basis of male and female? Is there a third sex? Some in the Dissident Right have argued that women are childlike. Is this true? Either way, what are the general psychological differences between men and women? Given typical female psychology, are the Pick-up Artists right or are they only correct abou...

The Mindcrime liberty show is joined by Todd Lewis to discuss whether wealth inequality is a problem and why? What are the causes of wealth inequality? Is wealth inequality just an extension of talent inequality? Who or what ideology is to blame? What can be done? Would wealth inequality be a problem for Ancapistan? Are interest and absentee landlordism always going to cause excessive wealth inequ...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses what is the purpose of sex, especially in developed societies with effective birth control? The “natural” answer, whether one is dealing with animals or humans, is to create offspring which is no longer the answer since the invention of birth control. With its rise, things have changed significantly, with pleasure and peer bonding added into the mix of reasons...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses whether arranged marriage is defensible. The divorce rate in the UK is 33% and 50% in the USA so alternative marriage arrangements need to be considered. Is an approved list of marriage candidates preferable to parental veto or typical American dating? Are the lower divorce rates with arranged marriage good evidence for its desirability? Is arranged marriage po...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show is joined by Todd Lewis of the Praise of Folly podcast to discuss, why aren’t there more women in prison? If opening up male dominated spaces and closing the gender gap is so important for politicians, government bureaucracies, megacorporations, universities, many churches and activists, then why do they not try to go after the disparity in this male dominated institutio...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses what is the marginal value of healthcare compared to other goods (say a nice dinner or a house)? If an ideal society existed where there was no IP, parasitic middleman, regulations and etc what would people spend on healthcare? How much is a life worth and how much is life extension worth given that scarcity exists? How much is perfect safety worth? Is Hans Hop...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses GDP and the problems surrounding its calculations and use. Is GDP useful? Is much of GDP growth illusory especially that which is created by finance and central banks? Is the wealth of nations impossible to calculate and compare? Is calculating the wealth of nations harmful and only done for malevolent reasons? Would private product remaining be a more useful s...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses whether Vladimir Putin is right? Is this a legitimate case of re-acquiring land as a kind of military invasion version of reparations? Is this a just war? What exactly is a modern “just” war and does anyone care to apply the standards consistently? Who exactly owns a piece of land and how do individuals, groups and/or state acquire it “justly”? What exactly is...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show is joined by Terminal Philosophy to discuss whether Public intellectuals should be more like Ric Flair. Flair in a way invented professional wrestling, in particular the part that makes it fun: the flamboyant gregarious trash talking promos. Should public intellectuals adopt this posture at times especially when they are right or think they will be right? Would this make...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses whether grammar exists with Rik Storey. What are the rules of grammar and where do they come from? Is grammar merely a useful social construction? Is there such a thing as universal grammar and is Chomksy right? Does grammar’s existence imply a kind of divine order? Is there such thing as “correct” grammar or does it evolve over time and in different places? Ho...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show is joined by Right Ruminations to discuss what a community devoted to free speech would look like. Is free speech in decline and if so when did it reach its zenith? Why is free speech valuable? What is the relationship between free speech and excellence? How would a free speech society deal with heretics? What place would the university have in a free society? Would they...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses whether interest and rent are a form of soft slavery? Robert Nozick in Anarchy, State and Utopia assumes no one defends slavery and the Marxists view capitalism as just an updated form of serfdom defined by exploitation. Two of the key aspects of capitalism are interest on capital and rents collected on property. Are landlords and rent collectors the beneficiar...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses why Feminist woman want to work for or become capitalists themselves if Marxism is true? The classical Marxist doctrine is roughly that working for capitalists is a form of exploitative slavery and enriches the owner. Feminism for the most part comes out of, or has serious overlaps, with the Marxist left viewing the patriarchy as a form of slavery. Most self-de...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show discusses whether politicians are stupid, mistaken or evil? Are politicians good intentioned at heart and merely making honest mistakes? Are they evil and purposely pursuing bad policy and engaging in malice? Is the situation a bit of both? This issue is an issue which divides the anti-conspiracy theory minded beltway libertarians with the more radical ones who suggest t...

The Mindcrime Liberty Show is joined by Terminal Philosophy for the third time to discuss two popular figures who dispense taboo ideas to the public and offer an alternative view. What is the role of persons like Graham Hancock and Alex Jones? Are they merely lying grifters, trying to sell content to gullible "idiots" as their mainstream critiques argue? Are they more right about the past than the...

Ayn Rand, who is secular, and Oliver Cromwell, who isn't, have interestingly the opposite view of Christmas.  Rand loved Christmas because she thought it was a celebration of greed, consumerism and capitalism.  On the contrary  Cromwell who represents the Calvinists, puritans and some other protestants has a quite negative view of Christmas and possibly even tried to ban the celebration of it.  Cr...

The mindcrime liberty show discusses the old gem of a conversation which appeared on Julian Assange's show for Russia Today when he was in asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy.  What unfolds in this conversation is quite memorable not only considering the high profile names but the interesting insights provided.   Assange has the show and the two guests are Slavoj Zizek and David Horowitz.  Topics dis...

The mindcrime liberty show discusses whether a  household or hotel become a "micro" state when it enforces certain rules, or any rules, within its boundaries?  If the hotel owners and management say no smoking in rooms and will  evict/fine you the cleaning cost if you engage in said behavior a kind of authoritarianism?  What if the father or mother in a family have a similar kind of rule within th...

The mindcrime liberty show discusses two words/concepts which conservatives,  paleo-cons, paleo-libertarians, reactionaries  and others accuse modernity of being: decadent and degenerate.   What do those concepts/words mean?  Is modern day western civilization, including the US and UK, a decadent and degenerate society?  Is this preventable? Do good times create weak men?  Was this inevitable?  Is...

The Mindcrime liberty show discusses one of the primary affinities or  darkside  of the moon agreements that the Austrian school of economics has with certain aspects of Marxism.  If one takes the Austrian business cycle theory/central banking critique as well as theory of state and combine them one can find an area where technically the Austrians agree with the Marxists in a way although the solu...