Kibbe On Liberty

Matt Kibbe is joined by Corey DeAngelis, director of school choice at the Reason Foundation, to discuss the shocking failure of government schools to meet the needs of parents and students during the coronavirus lockdowns. The result has been a surge in support for school choice programs, allowing tax dollars to follow the students directly rather than being tied to institutions that, for the most part, refuse to open. DeAngelis explains why teachers’ unions and education bureaucrats are so dead set against allowing any form of choice for America’s students. It’s not about what’s good for the children; it’s about maintaining a government monopoly.

Matt Kibbe sits down with economist Robert Lawson to talk about his Economic Freedom Index, an annual ranking of the world’s freest — and most unfree — economies. Lawson has discovered over the years that countries with lots of economic freedom tend to have better civil liberties and political freedoms as well. While oddballs like Hong Kong and Singapore do exist, the correlation is quite strong, meaning that if you care about free speech, democracy, and the ability to marry who you want, it’s a good idea to support low taxes, light regulations, and free trade as well.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) to talk about the deep political and social divisions running through the country that erupted into violence last week at the U.S. Capitol. Roy argues that frustration over the election is partly a proxy for a whole range of other frustrations Americans are feeling—and that the only solution is federalism and decentralization. As long as one side is trying to impose its will on the other from the top down, polarization, extremism, and even violence will only get worse.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Brian Nichols, host of The Brian Nichols Show, to discuss the failures of libertarians to effectively market ideas. In his day job as manager of a sales team, Nichols has learned that the best way to communicate with people is not to tell them what you think they should know, but to listen to their problems, answer their questions, and establish yourself as a source of trusted information others can turn to in times of doubt. By becoming less aggressive and more open, libertarians could go a lot farther towards making inroads with the average American looking for answers to problems, like government lockdowns, that are actively affecting their ability to live and prosper.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to discuss their bipartisan bill to repeal the Patriot Act and enact major reforms to protect Americans’ privacy rights. The legislators from both parties recognize the need to safeguard against intelligence agencies that operate in secret without respect for the Fourth Amendment and other important constitutional protections that stand between us and tyranny.

Matt Kibbe is joined by the entire Free the People staff to celebrate another year fighting for freedom. The group discusses work they have done on criminal justice reform, pushing back against critical race theory and, most importantly, combatting the narrative of authoritarian lockdowns that have dominated 2020. Despite recommendations from Fauci and others, it’s never been more important to gather with your loved ones to rejoice that this miserable year is finally ending.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Matthew Crawford, author of “Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road,” to discuss driving as a metaphor for American individualism, independence, and competence. Crawford is concerned that as fewer young people learn to drive and traditional cars are replaced with driverless ones, we’re in danger of losing something fundamentally human. There comes a point when we value safety and convenience so highly that we abandon much of what makes life worth living in the first place. Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062741969

Matt Kibbe is joined by BackWordz frontman Eric July to talk about a whole slate of government policies that are proving unbelievably destructive for the black community. From pandemic lockdowns that drive artists and small business owners out of business to the explicitly racist history of labor regulations like the minimum wage, big government always oppresses those with the least power in society.

Economists Deirdre McCloskey and Alberto Mingardi sit down with Matt Kibbe to discuss their new book, “The Myth of the Entrepreneurial State.” In everything from pandemic management and trade agreements to public investment in art and science, we see again and again that the government is no substitute for the spontaneous order of motivated and visionary entrepreneurs. People tend to assume that government action will be more effective because it’s organized by experts and coordinated from the top down, but everything good about society actually comes from the more organic process of people working together to solve problems voluntarily. The Myth of the Entrepreneurial State: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1630692093

Matt Kibbe is joined by the Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro, a legal scholar and author of the new book “Supreme Disorder,” to talk about how and why the Supreme Court has become so relentlessly politicized and dangerously powerful over the years. As the two major political parties engage in an arms race to weaponize the court against each other, we’ve forgotten that the proper role of the judiciary is as a third coequal branch of government, designed to check the other two from running rampant over the Constitution. Instead, we now have a political football that has broad implications for how ordinary Americans are allowed to live their lives.

Matt Kibbe is joined by biochemical engineer Ivor Cummins, who has been studying the science behind the COVID-19 lockdown mandates that have been the defining feature of 2020. His conclusion? There is none! Cummins shows that there is no evidence of lockdowns reducing virus transmission or death rates, while there is plenty of data showing that depression, suicide, domestic violence, and substance abuse are all way up as a result of government “helping.” There’s a stubborn refusal among policymakers to acknowledge that tradeoffs exist and the cure can be worse than the disease, even when countries like Sweden show us that this particular cure appears to be wholly ineffective.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), author of the new book “Bigfoot... It's Complicated,” to get to the bottom of what underlies belief in this majestic, mythical beast. In addition to outlining the four major theories on the nature of Bigfoot, Riggleman explains how belief systems can be weaponized and lead to disastrous outcomes. As a former intelligence analyst, he has personally seen the bloodshed resulting from dogmatic beliefs and conspiracy theories that, in some ways, resemble the mindset of the Bigfoot true believers. Bigfoot... It's Complicated: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1478751258

Matt Kibbe is joined by Patrick Byrne, founder and retired CEO of Overstock.com, to hear his shocking insider’s perspective on how senior officials in the Obama administration orchestrated the “Russiagate” narrative starting in 2015. Strap in for a wild ride, including an attempted sting operation targeting Hillary Clinton’s alleged acceptance of bribes from foreign governments. In an eyewitness account that seems stranger than fiction, Byrne blows the whistle on the deep state, declaring: “We need to unf**k our government.”

Matt Kibbe sits down with Father Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute. There’s a lot of talk lately about giving workers “dignity,” as if a higher minimum wage or government-run health care can accomplish this. Father Sirico points out that respect for individual liberty and self-determination is the only way to allow people to realize the intrinsic dignity that exists in every person. It’s not something that can be granted by a government agency. Through a series of colorful anecdotes, Father Sirico shows that while collectivist governments can trample on our rights, they can’t offer us something we already possess by the very nature of our humanity.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Kelley Vlahos, senior adviser with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, to talk about the military-industrial complex and its commitment to permanent war. Vlahos gives a rundown of all the key players advocating for more foreign intervention and resisting efforts to bring our troops home and out of harm’s way. They also discuss whether Donald Trump’s professed desire to get out of Afghanistan is genuine and realistic or whether it’s just another political ploy.

Matt Kibbe talks with Todd Hagopian, Libertarian candidate for Oklahoma corporation commissioner, about the increasingly fractured nature of America’s political parties. The nastiness of primary contests and the rise of different factions within the Republican and Democrat Parties points toward a seismic shift that could be coming in the near future. At the same time, third parties are getting marginalized and excluded from debates and even polls, as the political duopoly tries to retain its power.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Hanna Waugh, Libertarian candidate for Lake County Commissioner, to talk about politicians' abusive relationship with the American people. We excuse their bad behavior, put them on a pedestal, and continue to vote for them even as they break their promises, lie to us, and disrespect the Constitution. Waugh also talks about the importance of transparency, accountability, and respect in political campaigns.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen to talk about the dumpster fire debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden and find out why third parties aren’t allowed to share the stage. Jorgensen argues that the two major parties are threatened by competition, since they each have little to offer the American people. They also discuss political tribalism, media bias, and why vodka doesn’t taste like anything.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Nobel laureate economist Vernon Smith to talk about how the market process is not only efficient, but also encourages communities to peacefully cooperate. The misconception about laissez-faire economics is that it’s ruthless and Darwinian, but Smith shows through his own experimental work that free markets foster morality and consideration of others far more than top-down systems like socialism. They also dig into the legacy of Adam Smith, the first person to fully explain these ideas to the Western world.

Matt Kibbe sits down with P.J. O’Rourke, author of “A Cry from the Far Middle,” to talk about the polarization of 21st-century America. O’Rourke’s brand of commonsense centrism holds that it’s bad to give anyone too much power, especially the government, but that we’ve lost these basic truths as we spend more time on social media playing politics as a team sport. The problems that George Orwell warned us about have ultimately become self-inflicted, but that also means that we can reverse them if we put our minds to it. A Cry from the Far Middle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802157734