Kibbe on Liberty

Rapper and Blaze contributor Eric July joins Matt Kibbe to talk about the tragedy of George Floyd's death, the ensuing protests, and the need for police reform. July points out that tribal divides are holding us back from solving some of society's most urgent problems. Libertarians are in a unique position because they are not on the Left or the Right, but have a principled position about the abuse of power. This gives them an opportunity to lead the way on police reform.

Venture capitalist and Draper University founder Tim Draper joins Matt Kibbe to talk about lockdowns, free speech, regulation, and the proper role of government. Draper argues that when the government gets involved with telling people how to live, it creates more problems than it solves. Instead, the government should inform and educate citizens to make their own decisions.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Matt Ridley, author of “How Innovation Works,” to talk about the mysterious process of economic and technological progress. Ridley points out the futility of trying to engineer innovation from the top down, when we should instead focus on policies that get government out of the way and allow innovators to flourish.

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While it’s important to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, we can’t forget about the other health care issues people are dealing with. Pat Basu is a medical doctor and the CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America, an organization dedicated to helping cancer patients for over 35 years. Together with Matt Kibbe, he talks about the dangers of delaying treatments for cancer patients, as some governors have ordered in states across the country.

Matt Kibbe sits down with self-described Lunatic Farmer Joel Salatin and Rep. Thomas Massie to talk about the food shortages Americans are experiencing as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. The complex interactions that allow food to make it from farm to table have been disrupted by central planners who think they know better, with disastrous results. Rep. Massie has introduced legislation to help fix the problem, but as long as the lockdowns continue, the food supply will suffer.

Dave Rubin, host of The Rubin Report and author of “Don’t Burn This Book,” sits down with Matt Kibbe to discuss the political Left’s response to the coronavirus. Rubin points out that the lockdown has revealed a unification on the Right around states’ rights and individual freedom, but that the only thing leftists have in common is a race to demand ever more government and further concentration of political power.

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Matt Kibbe is joined by Kathleen McGoey, executive director of the Longmont Community Justice Partnership, and police Chief Mike Butler, to discuss how one Colorado city is revolutionizing the criminal justice system. Restorative justice focuses on restitution rather than retribution and forces offenders to take accountability for their actions. It may sound touchy-feely, but the data so far shows that restorative practices create safer communities with happier, more law-abiding citizens.

Matt Kibbe is joined by economist Antony Davies and political scientist James Harrigan, hosts of the popular Words & Numbers podcast. They point out that coercion is a blunt instrument that, although sometimes necessary, can often do more harm than good. This happens because coercion is the product of a small number of minds enforcing one solution, while cooperation allows many millions of minds to come up with a wide variety of solutions, some of which might just work.

Still on COVID-19 lockdown, Matt Kibbe is joined by Kerry McDonald, author of “Unschooled,” to talk about alternative education strategies during the coronavirus quarantine. As parents are struggling to deal with the stress of having their children home full-time, McDonald suggests that the process can be made easier by letting go of the traditional schooling mindset and taking the opportunity to let your children explore their own interests.

Matt Kibbe is joined via Skype by Glenn Jacobs, the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, to discuss how his state is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. While recognizing the severity of the virus, Jacobs has serious concerns about the economic damage being caused by the lockdown, as well as the loss of civil liberties that comes from sweeping government mandates. Most problems are better dealt with on a local level, using the unique knowledge of people on the ground.