We have on returning Philosophisnt guest Matt Torrijos who challenged me to discuss why I think Hayek is a relevant author and we end up debating whether freedom can be found for sale or whether it has to be won tooth and nail. Austrians and Marxists both put forward theories of exploitation to explain inequality, though exploitation means something completely different to Austrians than it does to Marxists. Exploiting a privileged position as a capitalist selling goods at inflated prices ONLY happens when government gets involved according to Austrians, whereas for Marxist-Leninists, governments inevitably get involved because of capitalism's essential dynamics. Challenging capitalist monopolies by enacting a temporary government monopoly is thus nonsensical to Austrians but necessary to Marxist-Leninists.

A lifetime of protecting and advocating alongside whistleblowers, the excluded, and the exploited and has convinced “Movement Lawyer” Lewis Pitts that law in capitalist society inevitably protects the privileged. He came on Philosophisnt to discuss why with Roman Raies. Pitt's biography The Life of A Movement Lawyer by Jason Langberg details how his life experiences from growing up in rural South Carolina, applying for conscientious objector status in college, taking on corporate corruption, and working in the organizations that held to account the Reagan administration for the Iran-Contra scandal shape his view that systems rather than people, are the source of immorality.

Candidate for Governor of North Carolina Mike Ross dispels myths about libertarians on Philosophisnt. The grievances often addressed towards capitalism, according to Mike Ross, are legitimate but entirely misplaced. There is a case to be made that the economic system we have is not capitalism at all. The inequality, monopolization, cyclical crisis and inflation which others blame on the free market, Ross diagnoses as symptoms of regulatory capture. If Ross is right that the economic organization we have today doesn’t reflect liberalism, then this begs the question of how far we should go to find a solution. The 2008 financial crisis, libertarian education reform, private law and even Hans Herman Hoppe, we discuss in the latest episode of Philosophisnt, don’t miss it!

Dana Daughtry talks to Roman Raies of Philosophisnt about what made it possible for him to overcome the extreme adversities of homelessness, a criminal record, being kidnapped, and addiction to hard drugs in Greensboro North Carolina. While his story is a testament to his personal willpower, it is also a testament to the importance of meeting those on the outskirts of society with genuine faith, patience, compassion, and humility. 

  As someone who has been in their situation, Daughtry is now the founder of Gate City 180, a nonprofit organization that serves the city’s homeless through an approach that seems nonbureaucratic. Government officials can fall into a trap of predicting what programs will work to help the homeless based on theories that do not take into account what the homeless themselves know they immediately need. Blanket-approach interventions and reform may fail to consider meeting homeless individuals to find ways to provide them with the specific need that helps find stability. For example, a person who needs to pay for a licensing and training fee to gain a job could have someone consider their unique case so that the payment is made. Programs relying on preset criteria cannot always do this. 

Congressional Candidate Jose Vega joins Roman Riaes on Philosophisnt to his interpretation of Lyndon LaRouche’s political philosophy, his candidacy, and the types of opposition that it faces. As someone who communicates his views fearlessly, Jose Vega is known for his viral confrontations with Kamala Harris, members of the squad, and what one may call “establishment” figures for their unwillingness to acknowledge when international humanitarian disasters are the fault of the U.S. Similar to LaRouche, Jose argues that a spirit of antigrowth, even antinatalist pessimism pervades politics, culture, and economics. Wars held by the imperial serve the function of limiting population growth when more moderate means do not serve the purpose. Jose Vega as a congressperson would seek to build on the leadership tradition of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy to significantly bolster public investment into development, even and perhaps especially, when this defies convention. What policymakers should easily accept from Jose Vega’s message is that lasting peace can only be followed by economic development. For this reason, Vega proposes to enact Lyndon Larouche’s Oasis Plan for developing the Middle Eastern region and ensuring that the atrocities inflicted on its people cannot continue taking place.

North Carolina Candidate for Lieutenant Governor Shannon Bray is the man to ask when you have questions about the economy, technology, and the future of policymaking. With his background as a Navy veteran and a technology contractor Shannon Bray has a lot of experience with how administrations think, work, and (dis)function. He joined Philosophisnt co-hosts Roman Raies and Mathew Girardin with his how bureaucracy often creates perverse incentives, why he believes restoring the gold standard is needed, and his personal experiences of facing inefficient and unjust court proceedings. 

As a Libertarian, Shannon Bray argues for his conviction that protecting the natural agency held by individuals is the best way to do good for society. His philosophy for governing is to manage affairs the same way a CEO would manage a business and to leverage technology as much as possible to bring voluntary transactions into public affairs. His idea for city coins aims to allow individuals the means to fund the projects they want to see happen in their cities by choice. The implementation of City Coins may also allow governments to lower taxes. Some of Shannon Bray’s ideas such as issuing a State of North Carolina currency separate from the US. dollars would, if implemented, go against the grain of regulatory precedent so much that they may seem impossible or at the very least destined to attract significant opposition from Federal agencies. In a day and age when the right to issue currency has been maintained exclusively through the Federal Reserve charter for over 100 years, a state currency could significantly impact the status quo of the financial system. Yet, nothing seems too difficult to fathom Shannon Bray who exudes optimism and energy when advocating his cause.

United States Presidential candidate Chase Oliver discusses how he came into politics as a police accountability, and "anti-bush war" activist and how this background forms his ideology. Though some of his stances overlap with progressives, he is not a leftist at all, but a gun-loving, American-style libertarian. In this interview, he defends the classical liberal tradition's view of the individual's relationship to society and challenges conventional wisdom on economics regarding trade wars, monetary policy, taxes, and economic planning. As the only major U.S. Presidential candidate to promise an end to the genocide of Palestinians, Chase's thoughts on freedom of speech may be more relevant than ever. However, he qualified his stance on opposition to Israel's war by adding that the Middle East is "complicated".

The world-renowned dermatology expert, relative of Holocaust survivors, and author Dr. Steve Feldman is running for Congress to represent North Carolina’s tenth congressional district as a Libertarian Candidate. 

Feldman believes that the debt burdening the government is unsustainable and that eliminating the deficit is essential to free resources for more useful allocations. Unlike me and other candidates I have interviewed like the former Libertarian Candidate Jeff Scott, he does not see unsustainable debt and unwise policies as a result of deliberate corruption. He instead believes that people in office genuinely mean well but make misinformed decisions due to shortsightedness, biases, and mistakes. As a Congressperson, he promises to focus on achieving his policy goals rather than making enemies. Having interviewed several political candidates, worked for a political campaign as a publicist and recruiter, and worked for a nonprofit social justice-focused organization as a researcher, I find his optimism to be a very rare trait among the politically active. Some of his statements intrigued me and made me wonder how they would be received if he won office. 

His message on foreign policy rests on ending what he sees as a politics of aggression that creates immoral military actions, unjustified blockages and sanctions, and unnecessary rivalries.  unnecessary death. Despite initially facing pushback from his community, he is adamant about publicly voicing opposition to the maintaining of Israel’s apartheid, which he explained is a legacy of ethnic cleansing rather than a security necessity. His worldview might be best expressed by his historical fiction novel Bent Towards Justice, which I still have yet to read, that tells the story of a Polish Holocaust who confronts his mistaken belief that Palestinians are bound to be enemies of the Jewish people. Altogether, this is a fascinating discussion that I hope you will listen to, and if you live in North Carolina’s tenth congressional district, that you vote for Steve Feldman.