In this episode, we discuss the fallout from the government shutdown and how delays in federal economic data, including the Consumer Price Index and jobs reports, leave policymakers and the public effectively “driving without headlights.” We examine the broader risks of making monetary decisions without timely information and the political incentives surrounding data transparency. We turn to new reporting on Border Patrol surveillance, exploring constitutional concerns raised by nationwide license-plate monitoring, predictive algorithms, and civil asset forfeiture. We highlight the “foolishness of the week,” a Thanksgiving trend piece on secretly stoned dinner guests, before shifting to a Thanksgiving tradition of our own as we reflect on what we’re thankful not to have, from VAT taxes and debtors’ prisons to hostile borders, historic diseases, and restrictions on homeschooling and peaceful protest.

00:00 Introduction and Overview

00:33 The Government Shutdown’s Aftermath

04:55 Border Patrol’s Expanding 100-Mile Authority

07:13 Predictive Policing, License Plate Tracking, and Searches

11:24 Civil Asset Forfeiture and Presumed Guilt

13:41 Foolishness of the Week: The “Stoned Thanksgiving Guests” Trend

15:57 What We’re Thankful to Not Have

16:35 Value Added Tax

18:28 Vaccines and the Elimination of Deadly Diseases

20:50 Free Speech and Peaceful Protest

22:08 Women’s Rights

23:53 Guns as the Great Equalizer

28:08 Homeschooling Freedoms and Education Restrictions of the Past

32:40 Criminalization of Debt and Bankruptcy Laws

34:05 Why Jailing People for Using Drugs is a Stupid Idea

36:08 Friendly International Neighbors

37:11 Declining Poverty

38:46 Closing Thoughts on Gratitude and a Better World

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices