Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast

In the last two years we have seen an explosion in assertion of “absolute freedom” and “absolute rights” in the social and political crisis surrounding vaccines and the government’s authority to mandate vaccines.

Throughout the country, people have asserted an irreducible freedom and an unconditional right to “decide” whether to accept the vaccination.

This is understanding and assertion of freedom and rights are yet another example of an extraordinary confusion about the core philosophical and political ideas that animate the American Political experiment.

In this episode we explore historical and philosophical story surrounding the Modern, and the Modern Liberal notion of Freedom and Natural Rights and, we identify the difference between original and political Freedom, and between Natural Rights and Civil Rights.

"I have longer to please the dead than please the living here." (Sophocles, Antigone). With these chilling words, Antigone sets in motion a Theologico-Political Crisis that will devour the Royal Family of Thebes and shatter the city. The Theologico-Political crisis that constitutes the drama of Sophocles' famous tragedy is a defining condition of Western Civilization, the emergence of Platonic and Metaphysical political philosophy, and the driving force behind the emergence of Modern political philosophy and Liberal Political Philosophy. Indeed, the Theologico-Political crisis is driving force behind the creation of American Liberal Democracy. Now it is back. The recent law banning abortions in Texas, and the silence of the Supreme Court, has initiated a new Theologico-Political crisis that threatens to devour what is left of the American Democratic political experiment. A straight line runs from ancient Thebes to contemporary Texas.

After an extended break, Walker and Professor Dungey return!  In this, "we are back," episode we examine where we are, and identify three main ideas to contextualize what is happening and where we are going.  First, we must always remember that democracies are inherently fragile, and sometimes dangerous.  Second, we discuss the idea that the legal and political institutions and processes of American Democracy are human inventions that are hard to build and hold, but easy to lose.  Third, we discuss the crisis of legitimacy that threatens to dissolve the American political experiment.  We are living in and through the most dangerous times in our economic, social, and political history.  Can a culture without a "center" keep the center from dissolving.

A critical theme running throughout Modern, and Modern Liberal Political Theory is the recognition of, and consequences that result from, the Death or Displacement of God. Ever since Machiavelli Displaced God from the Cosmos and the Human Mind, it has now become necessary for Human Beings to Create the Moral, Economic, and Political Institutions that bring Order, Security, and Peace to Human Life. Humans must now do the Work that God used to do. However, within this extraordinary observation is a fascinating, empowering, and terrifying ambiguity. In our most recent podcast, "Becoming Mortal Gods and the End of Liberal Democracy," we trace the meaning of this ambiguity, and identify both its tremendous power and terrifying consequences. Enjoy!

The Washington Post proclaims: "The GOP Tax Reform is a Scam." As Millions of working and middle class people are discovering that their tax returns are either significantly lower, or, that they actually owe substantial amount of money, they feel conned. And yet, while the recent GOP tax reform does represent one of the largest transfers of wealth in the History of American Politics, and while that transfer of wealth overwhelmingly benefitted the super-rich, nothing has gone wrong. No one has been Conned. In this episode, "The Age of Acquisition and the Perfection of Inequality," we argue that the system worked perfectly. The legal, economic, and political space of American Democracy was designed specifically for the emergence of a "New Aristocracy of Acquisition" that mobilizes inequalities of talent, ability, ambition, and intelligence. The Vulgar are only now learning they are the Vulgar. Enjoy.

As the Institutions and Processes of Government continue to falter and breakdown, another Government Shutdowns looms, and the ominous threat of a Declaration of National Emergency darkens the American sky, we investigate what all three of the phenomena have in common, and how they will contribute to the emergence of an Authoritarian Regime.  In our latest episode, "Government Shutdown, Executive Power, and the Coming Authoritarianism," Walker and Professor Dungey not only investigate what each of these dynamics mean, but also situate each dynamic in the deeper philosophical context of Modern Political Philosophy and it's Liberal variant--the Artificial Nature of Politics and its Inherent Fragility. Enjoy.

In our Fourth, Special DSU Event, we share with you the audio from a DSU Live Event, recorded on October 21, 2017. In this episode, we examine the renewed attempt by powerful groups within American Society and Democracy to ACQUIRE AND EXERCISE POLITICAL POWER FOR THE PURPOSE OF ASSERTING A SPECIFIC CLAIM TO THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF LIFE. This is extraordinarily dangerous. If a particular group ever "WINS" the Culture Wars, if means the END of Liberal Democracy as we know it. No one "WINS" a Culture War.

In the wake of yet another mass shooting that left 17 young people dead at a high school in Parkland, Florida, the nation is once again torn apart by suffering and vicious ideological debate about gun ownership in America. In this episode, "The State of Nature, Social Contract, and Guns," Professor Dungey and Walker approach the issue of guns from the deeper historical and philosophical ideas that animate early Modern political theory, and especially the emergence of Liberal Political Philosophy.

We approach the issue of guns from the perspective of Hobbes's State of Nature, his notion of Radical Equality, his penetrating account of Human Vanity, and the role these ideas play in the escape from the State of Nature through the Social Contract. Despite the presence of legal and political institutions, is contemporary America coming to resemble, more and more, Hobbes's terrifying and violent State of Nature?

Recently, Donald Trump said he "likes governing by chaos." And, there are many who would say that his administration is chaotic. In this episode, Professor Dungey investigates the philosophical origins and meanings of the idea of Chaos as it emerges in Early Modern Political Theory. What role did the idea of "chaos" play in the early development of Modern Political Philosophy? And, what does it mean to govern "chaotically." Much of Modern Political Philosophy is specifically designed to contain and escape chaos. Can Liberal, Democratic Institutions and Processes survive Chaos? Enjoy

For two years we have been told that the informational, social, and political crisis now unfolding has been set in motion by the emergence of the Post-Truth Language and Thoughts of Trump. Indeed, last year, Chuck Todd declared, "Welcome to the Post-Truth Presidency." In this counter-intuitive episode, Walker and Professor Dungey discuss how this Narrative is actually wrong, and more importantly, Dangerous. Enjoy.