Progressive Conservatism
Progressive Conservatism
Frank Buckley’s latest + What’s going on in Sri Lanka?
This Sunday, I’m happy to welcome F.H. Buckley back to the show to discuss his newest book, Progressive Conservatism: How Republicans Will Become America's Natural Governing Party.
Progressive conservatism sounds like an oxymoron – a bit like an exact estimate, jumbo shrimp, or a dull roar. Buckley, however, argues that progressive conservatism is not only a meaningful political label, but that it has a rich history – both in America and around the world. A former speech writer for President Trump, Buckley believes that Trump voters will still determine the future of the Republican Party, even though Trump has disgraced himself.
Tune in this Sunday at 8 am PACIFIC, or subscribe to the podcast to listen after it airs.
And now, it’s time once more for the weekly round-up of news and analysis from a libertarian perspective. This week’s headlines prove, yet again, that reality has a well-known libertarian bias.
The International View: Sri Lanka’s Collapse
We begin in Sri Lanka, where the country’s President has fled mobs of protestors, who can no longer afford basic necessities, like food, fuel, and medicine. Kate Wand, host of AIER’s Liberty Curious podcast, explains what went wrong:
It’s not just inflation, but a whole series of government failures – starting with draconian COVID lockdowns that kept tourists out, and continuing with a series of disastrous mandatory organic farming initiatives that made it illegal to use chemical fertilizers. These policies were part of compliance with the UN’s “Sustainable Development Goals,” (SDG) and so-called “ESG initiatives” (Environmental, Social, and Governance). Both of these acronyms appear to be shorthand for a hybrid of Mao’s Great Leap Forward and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.
Chelsea Follett and Malcolm Cochran elaborate at FEE.org on the failure of these policies, as well as the failure of mainstream media like the New York Times to grapple with the obvious cause of crop losses – the ban on chemical fertilizers (Sri Lanka Crisis Reveals the Dangers of Green Utopianism).
While reasonable people can debate whether these non-organic fertilizers are “sustainable,” there’s no denying that the famine caused by the ban was not.
Climate Crisis or Hysteria?
The policies behind Sri Lanka’s collapse are driven by the same climate alarmism we’re seeing in Europe, where a summer heatwave is leading to renewed calls for a state of indefinite climate emergency.
However, as Don Boudreaux of Cafe Hayek wisely points out in a letter to the WSJ, that declaring emergency represents an assault on the rule of law, and can only be described as hysteria – which is the much greater danger, insofar as it opens the door to unimaginable violations of our individual liberties.
2nd Amendment in Action
Speaking of inconvenient truths for the New York Times crowd, a foiled mass shooting at an Indiana shopping mall has made the case for concealed-carry laws advanced by people like John R. Lott even more clear than before.
As Lott explained on my show, the media is quick to spin school shootings into teachable moments on gun control, but never mentions the countless deaths that averted by the proverbial “good guy with a gun.”
Josh Blackman notes over at Volokh Conspiracy that the good samaritan in Indiana – 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken – would have been carrying the pistol illegally just one month ago (Indiana’s law changed to allow conceal-carry without a permit on July 1, 2022). This comes in the wake of an important Supreme Court decision that overturned a law that limited the ability of New Yorkers to carry guns with them in public.
J.D. Tucille notes that the good samaritan was technically in violation of the mall’s no-weapons policy, “but the owners don't seem bothered. They have a statement on their website saying, in part: ‘We are grateful for the strong response of the first responders, including the heroic actions of the Good Samaritan who stopped the suspect.’”
As John Lott would say, “More Guns, Less Crime.”
What Part of Illegal Immigration Do You Oppose?
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee is trying to expose Democratic NYC Mayor Eric Adams as a hypocrite for stating that illegal immigrants create a burden on New Yorkers.
Sadly, rather than take this opportunity to embrace and welcome immigrants into the party of opportunity – appealing to them with a message of hard work and an end to welfare benefits – Republicans will continue to scapegoat illegal immigrants, and accept the progressive framing that the government must feed and clothe everyone in this country. While it’s true that a welfare state cannot coexist with open borders, I take this to mean that we should end the welfare state – not close the borders.
You can read more about my philosophy of immigration in the latest installment of my series, “Make Immigration Legal Again.”
Inflation Tracker
Of course, inflation hasn’t left the headlines.
Nancy Rommelmann interviewed six small-business owners about inflation and the economy, and it appears that the public is catching on to the ruse of printing money:
Last Week’s Show
If you missed my conversation with Professor David Bernstein, you can now listen or read the condensed highlights:
In the end, Bernstein calls for a “Separation of Race and State.”
I encourage all listeners to buy the book here Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America and follow David on Twitter.
That’s it for this week’s roundup.
Be sure to tune in to the show of ideas, not attitude – stay free, my friends.