Galloway Institute

Episode line-up:

[0:00] - Biden-Harris Paternalism

• We discuss how paternalism is fundamentally flawed and repugnant political philosophy, and why the Individual must always exist at the center of this relationship. 

[7:34] - Democrats Demand Medicare For All

• When faced with the question, "how do we provide the highest quality healthcare to the greatest number of people?" many immediately point to the need for a single payer, medicare-for-all system. Can we help remedy the inequities and suffering of existence without creating massive government programs?

[17:07] - Democrats Demand Student Loan Forgiveness

• Democrats sound off on an ambitious policy to forgive $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. In this renewed wave of enthusiasm, tribal partisans are displaying an eagerness to act but an unwillingness to try and understand why we got into this situation in the first place.

[27.12] - The Great Compromise: Student Loan Crisis

• The student debt crisis presents an opportunity for statesmanship and great political compromise. Republicans should support the abolition of all federal student loans in exchange for completely ending the federal government's involvement in education.

[33:58] - Educational Industrial Complex

• The Federal government's experiment in education has failed the American people. We explain how the Education Industrial Complex got us to this point.

[43:22] - COVID-19: People Are Easy to Lead, but Hard to Drive

• Dr. Fauci comments on how the American people's independent spirit is getting in the way of medical efforts to combat COVID-19, and suggests that it is now time for you to "do what you're told." This independent spirit Dr. Fauci bemoans is at once the safeguard and glory of the American people. We are easy to lead, but hard to drive. We have submitted to the leadership of medical experts and made unprecedented scarifies to our way of life over the past nine months, but we will not be driven by medical experts to give up on living. It's one thing to tell people to wear masks and practice social distancing, it is a whole different thing to tell self-respecting people to cancel Thanksgiving.

[49:34] - COVID-19: Maintaining Federalism

• When nations are struck by a crisis, fear often creates a desire to consolidate power and authority. Surprisingly, state governments have so far taken the lead in our response to the COVID-19 crisis, and the principle of federalism has held fast. Will we see more national decrees under a Joe Biden administration? 

[54:47] - COVID-19: Separation of Powers on the State Level

• A free people cannot live under indefinite executive decrees. At some point, governors need to invite the legislative branch into the discussion, so the people can voice can be reflected in each state's COVID response strategy.

[59:52] - COVID-19: Civil Disobedience

• Governors, after nine months into the pandemic, are still excluding the people's representatives from having a say in shaping the state's COVID response strategy. Furthermore, some governors are refusing to back down even after the judicial branch rebukes their authority as unconstitutional. Inevitably, as people continue to live under indefinite executive decrees, instances of civil disobedience and non-compliance will become more frequent.

[1:04:12] - COVID-19: Hypocrisy

• Over the past nine months, executives across the nation have been issuing executive orders. From declaring some businesses non-essential v essential to curfews, to this and that. Executives don’t seem to be taking the pandemic seriously as they are constantly violating their own rules. If leaders want the people to take the pandemic seriously and are demanding the people to sacrifice so much, at the very least they should lead by example. 

Episode Line Up:

[0:00] - Election Update

• The 2020 Presidential Election is still very much alive. Tensions are high, and each side is clinging to contradictory narratives. On the one hand, Biden is the undisputed victor, he is now the President-elect, voter fraud is either inconsequential or a conspiracy theory, and Trump refusal to concede is an existential threat to American democracy. On the other hand, people believe Trump had his reelection stolen from him by the same crowd that has opposed him at every step since ascending to the Presidency in 2016. We discuss and try to find the correct disposition to have as we continue through this turbulent election. 

[17:12] - Political Metamorphosis

• Are you frustrated with the broken state of American politics today? Tired of the partisanship and power games? We are too, but in order to start a successful new narrative, we need to be open to accepting a new understanding of politics. 

[26:45] - Rising to Political Maturity

• Many are entrenched in the belief that politics is nothing more than a power game between competing ideological tribes. Political maturity is attained when we start to view politics instead as a challenge to figure out how we can live happily in a society alongside other people.

[41.49] - The Importance of Political Maturity

• The importance of political maturity is quite obvious. Will your country be successful if people are bitterly divide, ideologically possessed, and resent each other? Odds are your country will be more prosperous, free, and happy if people are united on fundamental issues, tolerant of opposition, and ultimately just respectful of each other.

[46:49] - Thoughts on the Electoral College

• A viewer from our audience asks us to opine on the Electoral College. Specifically, the pros and cons of the current electoral system compared to a national popular vote.

[58:18] - Biden's Unity Message

• A viewer from our audience asks us to compare our calls for Unity under a new political narrative with Joe Biden's call for Unity under his new presidential administration. While Joe Biden is calling for unity under his power and leadership, we are calling for unity to bridge the ideological divide that will continue to exist among the American people, despite whoever comes out on top of this election. 

[1:03:31] - Thoughts on a Multi-Party System

• A viewer from our audience asks us to give our thoughts on the probability of a multi-party system in the future. Starting a new successful political party not only requires popular support, but strategic genius. It's not impossible, but we are a long way from displacing the Democrat and Republican parties from their chief role in our politics today. 

Episode Lineup:

[0:04] - Election Fallout

1. Election night was quite the wild ride and its not over yet. Expectations were crushed on both sides, skepticism over the integrity of our election system looms, and a bitter power struggle in the courts is being teed up as we record this show. We give our thoughts on the initial election fallout as of Thursday November 5th. 

[11.18] - Election Reform Ideas

• One thing we learned from the 2020 election is that our voting system needs upgraded. When the country is divided, election margins become razor thin and claims of fraud and malpractice spread like wildfire. We weigh the pros and cons of each measure in our theoretical election reform amendment.

[27:48] - Bridging the Political Divide

• Why are our politics so ugly? The 2020 election brought the degree of our current political divide into perspective. The American people are fundamentally at odds with what kind of people they want to be, and what sort of society they want to live in. Will we fall into the dangerous power games that have destroyed societies all throughout history? Or will we find a way to bridge this divide, unite, and deescalate current tensions? 

[44:15] - The Establishment Lives

• The political establishment is a general term used to describe the permanent ruling class in the country. Donald Trump was universally recognized as an anti-establishment wrecking ball. If Trump loses, the Establishment will survive and renew their power under Joe Biden - the quintessential career politician. 

[54:13] - The End of Trump Populism?

• Does a Trump defeat spell the end of this brand of populism? We discuss if the "own the lib" mentality can be part of a viable political strategy moving forward.

[1:04:33] -The Future of the Republican Party

• If Biden wins what will become of the GOP? If Trump scratches his way to victory, we populism gets 4 more years and the strategic battle between ideological conservatives and establishment republicans gets kicked down the road until 2024.

[1:12:40] - The Road Ahead

• The 2020 Election was the ugliest in recent memory, and its not even over yet. Heated court battles are inevitable and this election might be contested for several weeks. We discuss the road ahead if Joe Biden can stave off Trump's legal challenges. 

Episode Lineup:

[1:32] - Trump's First Term

• We reflect on Trump's first term, and discuss how the political landscape really hasn't changed much since 2016.

[17:12] - Final Predictions

• We give our final predictions on who we think will come out victorious on election night. Trump has the incumbency advantage, and has four years of experience under his belt now. Can Biden pull off a victory?

[29.40] - Preview: Trump Victory

• What will happen if Trump wins and gets a second term? What are the best case and worst case scenarios?

[34.39] - Preview: Biden Victory

• What will happen if Biden wins? What are the best case and worst case scenarios?

[41.04] - Contested Election

• While it can be fun to think through all the wild election night scenarios, we try to temper expectations on what to expect. 

[49.16] - Civil War Rhetoric

• We address the uptick in civil war rhetoric, and explain why we believe America is currently engaged in a cold civil war. We also dive into the real nature civil wars, and how they represent the ultimate political failure.

[57.27] - Pyrrhic Political Victories

• When unity breaks down people struggle to accept being defeated politically. As a result we start to favor short sighted strategies and develop an ends justifies the means mentality. "One more victory like this and we are finished!"

[1:00:36] - Power Games

• The prevalence of presidential Populism, and renewed calls for Court Packing, adding states, and secession are all indicators that our politics is devolving into dangerous power games. 

[1:10:42] - Importance of Unity

• Reason published an article arguing that America's political union was just a strategic necessity, not a moral imperative. We go through George Washington's "Farewell Address" and explain why our political union is critical to the preservation of individual liberty, constitutional government, and ultimately the betterment of mankind.

[1:19:01] - Obsessed with Politics?

• We try to answer a question from the audience asking, "are we becoming too obsessed with politics?" 

Let's talk politics, because ideas have consequences. Episode lineup:

[1:50] - COVID-19: Michigan's Lockdowns

• Michigan's Supreme Court puts an end to Governor Gretchen Whitmer's executive lockdown orders. This is a textbook case study into Separation of Powers.

[13:17] - Social Media Madness

• Donald Trump contracts COVID-19 and social media is thrown into a frenzy. The President is compared to Benito Mussolini and labeled a bio-terrorist. When will the social media madness end?

[22:54] - Social Media Division Complex

• Digital media companies profit off the American people's political division. They have figured out that outrageous headlines generate more clicks, more shares, more traffic, and more ad revenue. The Social Media Division Complex explains this phenomenon. 

[29:21] - Social Media and the Melting Pot

• The challenge of politics is to determine how 330 million people can live together happily. Social media complicates this challenge, and turns the great American melting pot into an pressure cooker.

[35:23] - Social Media Reform?

• What should we do if social media threatens the our ability to unify and live happily together? While legislative reforms may be a good first step, we will ultimately need a new narrative to repair the broken state of politics today.

[48.12] - Federalism & Centralization

• Federalism is the legal and structural framework that allows diverse populations to live happily together. The move towards centralization frustrates the challenge of politics by aiming to impose national uniform polices on a very diverse American public.

[54:18] - Character in Leadership

• Our response to a question from the audience about the importance of character in leadership, and how to think about voting for the better of two evils

[1:04.52] - Restraining the Judicial Branch

• Our response to a question from the audience about restraining the power of the Judicial Branch by limiting the nation-wide impact of court decisions.

In this podcast, we review some of our key takeaways from the first Presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

The fierce political zealots on both sides believed that their candidate won a decisive victory, but it seemed that a majority of Americans felt a sense of despair after listening to the debate.

This reveals to us that there is a large majority of American's who would be willing to try something new and listen to new ideas. There is no better time to start talking about new political narrative and a new vision for the future of the country.

We conclude the podcast by talking about how a new unifying political narrative requires us to tolerate living in a society with people who hold very different beliefs. Currently, we have a bad habit of trying to impose our will upon those we disagree with through extremely powerful presidential administrations or through nine unelected Supreme Court justices.

Rather than continuing down this destructive path, we need to decentralize power and abandon our obsession with imposing national, uniformed policies across the entire nation. 

Let's talk politics, because ideas have consequences. 

In this podcast, we examine how the country's response to the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg reveals serious problems with how we understand the Supreme Court.

We dive into the different judicial philosophies of Originalism and Activism and discuss the importance of having a united view on how the constitution should be interpreted.

Following this segment, we discuss how the Supreme Court has been compromised by party politics, the rise and fall of judicial supremacy, the futility of court-packing, and the dangers of weaponizing the Supreme Court to impose your ideology upon your political rivals.

Be sure to rate our podcast, leave comments, and join in on the discussion.

Let's talk politics, because ideas have consequences.

In today's podcast, Jeff and I talk about the return of the NFL and the controversial National Anthem protests. We also discuss Trump's recent strong tweet aimed to warn Iran, and get into a lengthy discussion about U.S. foreign policy. 

Following these segments, we dive into conversations about the 10th & 14th Amendment, our thoughts on some weird things occurring at Trump's campaign rally, and the legality of some state's COVID-19 shutdown orders. 

Be sure to rate our podcast, leave comments, and join in on the discussion.

Let's talk politics, because ideas have consequences.

In today's podcast, Jeff and share a few things about ourselves and talk about the inspiration behind the name "Galloway."

We then spend the rest of our time looking at COVID-19 as a national stress-test that reveals several challenges underlying our politics today.

Let's talk politics, because ideas have consequences.