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Recent shows explore American Conservatism’s past and future
Among the hundreds of signatories to the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles are many prolific journalists, notable authors, and columnists for such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Examiner, and National Review.
But FreeCons don’t limit themselves to the written word. Our signatories also include regular contributors to CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox News, NPR, and other broadcast networks and stations.
Podcasts are yet another place where Freedom Conservatives are helping to shape the future of the American Right. Today we feature several programs well worth your while.
Free and virtuous
James Patterson is an associate professor of politics at Ave Maria University and contributing editor for Law & Liberty, serving as host of its podcast. He’s also a FreeCon signatory.
On a recent episode of the show (listen here), Patterson welcomed fellow signatory Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review as well as Reason writer Stephanie Slade and Samuel Goldman, a George Washington University professor and editor of the journal Fusion.
Their topic was the fusionism of Frank Meyer and its relevance to today’s debates. What Meyer meant by the term, said Slade, was that “liberty and virtue are both necessary for human flourishing. A good society must be free and it must be virtuous.”
Cooke described fusionism as “an inevitable coalition of people who don’t believe in New Soviet Man.” Although they may “differ in their attitude towards the state, and perhaps their political preferences, they are allergic to the idea that human nature can be improved.”
Compare and contrast
Josh Lewis is a certified public account in Tulsa and works for the Oklahoma State Auditor's Office. He’s also a FreeCon signatory.
As the founder and host of “Saving Elephants,” Lewis seeks to explain conservative principles to young Americans and help the movement thrive in the 21st century.
A recent episode (listen here) featured one of the leaders of the FreeCon project, Avik Roy. Lewis and Roy delved deeply into the differences between Freedom Conservatism and National Conservatism.
Some involve specific issues, as well as the ways in which the FreeCon and NatCon statements address questions of national identity, federalism, and the relationship between church and state.
Nevertheless, “a lot of what differentiates these movements is not what’s in the statements but the broader ecosystem that these statements are connected to,” Roy told Lewis.
Don’t harm your allies
Samuel Gregg is the Friedrich Hayek Chair at the American Institute for Economic Research. He’s also a FreeCon signatory.
On a recent episode (listen here) of the “Econception” podcast, hosted by National Review writer Dominic Pino, Gregg discussed a key point of contention between FreeCons and NatCons: free trade.
Gregg explained the relationship between trade policy and national security, pointing out that tariffs intended to punish countries that mean America harm can, if poorly targeted, “flow over and hurt other countries, including your allies.”
During the Trump term, for example, the administration slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that “antagonized the European Union, Australia, Canada — allies of the United States.”
Attack corruption
Speaking of AIER, Will Ruger serves as its president and previously served as vice president for research and policy at the Charles Koch Institute and an associate professor of political science at Texas State University. He is also a FreeCon signatory.
On a recent episode (listen here) of “Qualified Opinions,” a podcast hosted by the Mercatus Center’s Veronique de Rugy, Ruger discussed the presidential administrations of Grover Cleveland — which, he argued, “bridged the gap between populism and classical liberalism.”
A modern application of Cleveland’s strategy could “attack the corrupt connections between government and industry,” Ruger wrote in a companion piece, as well as tame the Federal Reserve “as a means of protecting the people — especially hardworking and thrifty savers — against the ravages of inflation.”
The real culprit
A former official at the White House Office of Management and Budget, Vance Ginn is founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting and host of the “Let People Prosper Show.” He’s also a FreeCon signatory.
On a recent episode (listen here), Ginn interviewed another FreeCon, Jessica Melugin of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, about the regulation of artificial intelligence and social media.
“So often, when you look at who the real culprit is in distorting markets in a way that harms consumers, it ends up being the government,” Melugin said.
Conservatism at issue
The “Future of Freedom” program, produced by America’s Talking Network, often features FreeCons and allies in pro-con forums with other right-leaning analysts.
Hosted by Hillsdale College’s Scot Bertram, “Future of Freedom” is a top-50 podcast on American politics. Recent episodes about FreeCon-related topics include:
• Scott Lincicome and Stephen Miran on whether the U.S. should pursue industrial policy.
• Andy Puzder and Allison Schrager on whether tip income should be taxed.
• Jarrett Dieterle and Brian Albrecht on whether government should ban non-compete clauses.
• John Hood and Andrew Walker on Freedom Conservatism and the future.
In the mix
• In The Washington Examiner, David Harsanyi called The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates “the most beautifully crafted blood libel ever published.“ By purporting to analyze the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without any references to Hamas, Hezbollah, or other purveyors of terrorism, Coates misleads his readers and shows himself to be “less a one-note thinker than a toddler banging on a snare drum with a mallet,” argued Harsanyi, an Examiner senior writer.
• At Law & Liberty, George Hawley wrote that “although it is not accurate to say that America has never been more polarized than it is today, we are dysfunctional in new ways.”
By nationalizing disputes that ought to be hashed out in state capitals and local communities, our political leaders have erred — but that doesn’t mean would-be reformers would make things better. “At a time when vocal elements of the progressive left and the populist right call for bad policies that threaten American prosperity, I hesitate to endorse institutional changes that make it easier for either side to pursue their goals.”
• FreeCon signatories Matthew Mitchell, Daniel J. Mitchell, and the late James Gwartney are among the coauthors of the Fraser Institute‘s latest Economic Freedom of the World rankings.
The United States ranks fifth in the index, behind Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, and New Zealand. Comparing the top quartile in economic freedom to the bottom quartile, the former have 7.6 times higher GDP per person, cleaner environments, and much higher life expectancies, literacy rates, life satisfaction, and social tolerance.
• In the Kansas City Star, columnist and FreeCon signatory David Mastio followed up on a revision from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics showing that violent crime went up in 2022, not down as originally reported.
The FBI responded with what could only be called “gobbledygook,” Mastio wrote.
“Here’s what I’ve learned in decades of covering Washington: When bad news is false, agency press people go out of their way to make it crystal clear that reports are definitely not true. When bad news is true, agency press people spew a wall of fog and bury you under an avalanche of distractions or in this case, contradictions.”