Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

It goes without saying that Constituting America believes the Founding Fathers were a a remarkable group of men who accomplished something extraordinary in the founding of our country. Each brought a different personality and expertise to the table. Dr. Jennifer London is founder of the National American History and Founders Month, a long-time friend of Constituting America and has a new book highlighting 7 of our founders. As our guest today, she will share what made each of them extraordinary.

We continue our chat series on socialism. While the Constitution does have built-in safeguards against socialism it does allow open debate and policy choices decided by "we the people." How do these dual, seemingly contradictory, traits co-exist under our constitutional framework? Joining our chat this week, we welcome the Hon. Michael McConnell as our guest. McConnell served as a circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and is now professor at Stanford Law School as well as the director of Stanford's Constitutional Law Center.

The mayor of New York City recently announced a plan to build 5 government-run grocery stores in New York City. While the idea of providing affordable groceries to city residents may seem feasible on paper, the likely reality is far different. Today, we explore this idea and discuss how such a concept would be enacted and the likelihood of delivering on its promise. Could these stores lower grocery bills or might they lead to empty shelves and fewer choices? We are pleased to welcome Emma Camp, senior newsletter editor at the Wall Street Journal, as our guest this week.

Poll after poll show young people view socialism more favorably than even capitalism. It's a stunning trend for which the root cause needs to be explored and understood. From social and economic inequality to the failed "promises" socialism pretends to offer to cultural and educational influence, the cause for this trend is quite vast. To help us understand why socialism appears favorable to this segment of our population and what past experiences will teach us about its further spread, we are delighted to welcome Sunny Rose Kutcher as our guest today. Sunny is the CEO of Young Americans Against Socialism.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution can be viewed as companion documents in that one lays out grievances as cause for independence and the other established institutions to protect our rights and freedoms so eloquently described in the Declaration. In our current political climate, it is important to understand this companion relationship especially when there's a renewed interest in political systems that are antithetical to those two documents. What happens if we allowed the destruction of those Constitutional institutions that protect our rights? What happens if we were to further concentrate political power in the hands of the state? To lend his expertise to this topic, we are honored to welcome Dr. Eric Patterson, President and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, as our special guest this week.

Today, we contrast the political philosophies of two of history's most influential thinkers: James Madison and Karl Marx. Their core philosophies could not be more different.

Madison believed concentrated government power posed a fundamental threat to liberty. Marx argued against private property and capitalism, arguing both created fundamental inequalities. With the current rise of socialism and Marxism, especially in younger Americans, this conversation could not be more pertinent. To lead this conversation with our student panel, we are honored to welcome Dan Mahoney, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Assumption University and Senior Research Fellow for the Heritage Foundation's B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies.

Today, we contrast the political philosophies of two of history's most influential thinkers: James Madison and Karl Marx. Their core philosophies could not be more different.

Madison believed concentrated government power posed a fundamental threat to liberty. Marx argued against private property and capitalism, arguing both created fundamental inequalities. With the current rise of socialism and Marxism, especially in younger Americans, this conversation could not be more pertinent. To lead this conversation with our student panel, we are honored to welcome Dan Mahoney, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Assumption University and Senior Research Fellow for the Heritage Foundation's B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies.

Sometimes we take for granted the freedom and liberty we are born with. It is good to be reminded that we should not take our country and its history for granted. One of the best ways we can be reminded to remain grateful is to hear first-hand experiences from those born into oppressive regimes who now get to enjoy America's liberty. Our guest today is one such example. Denisa Traboini was born in communist Albania in 1977 and shares her memories of growing up under that system and how her son gets to enjoy a very different childhood here than what she experienced in Albania.

Socialism isn't new. Plato's "The Republic" outlines an ideal state with elements of socialism. The Founding Fathers were well aware of the concept and purposefully wrote safeguards against it in our founding documents. Case in point: the Bill of Rights protects private property and Article 1 of the Constitution protects patents and intellectual property. Please join our special guest, Timothy Sandefur, Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute's Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, and our student panel for this enlightening discussion.

Socialism sounds good in theory — but what does it look like in practice? From centralized economic policies to government control over markets and private enterprise, our guest today explores the real-world consequences of nations that have experimented with socialism — and the promises compared to the results. Dr. Shruti Rajagopalan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center and a Fellow at the Classical Liberal Institute at New York University School of Law and is our guest expert this week.