Top Priority | Ideas for Human Flourishing

Show: 026 Top Priority Podcast | Civil Assest Forfeiture & Criminal Justice Reform 

Date Recorded: October 5, 2020 

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Vikrant Reddy, Senior Fellow, Charles Koch Institute 

Greg Glod, Criminal Justice Reform Fellow, Americans for Prosperity  

Tyler Koteskey, Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity 

• What is Civil Asset Forfeiture? min [2:08] 
• Where did Civil Asset Forfeiture originate? min [4:58] 
• United States v. One Solid Gold Object in the Form of a Rooser. min [21:35] 
• What does a reform plan look like? min [31:37] 
• Tims v. Indiana | Supreme Court Ruling in favor of 8th Amendment Rights. min [37:02] 

Additional Resources  

• Dick Carpenter of Institute for Justice | TEDx Talk on Civil Asset Forfeiture  
• The Supreme Court Strikes a Blow Issues Unanimous Ruling in Favor of 8th Amendment Rights  
• Remove bad incentives such as civil asset forfeiture and qualified immunity 
• Ep 002 Top Priority | Overcriminalization & Criminal Justice Reform 
• The Stand Together Community 

Show: 024 Top Priority Podcast | Anti-SLAPP Laws in Tech and Innovation 

Date Recorded: September 21, 2020 

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Billy Easley, Senior Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity Foundation 

• The Stand Together Community VISION for digital free speech. min [2:08] 
• Anti-SLAPP = strategic lawsuit against public participation. min [3:39] 
• "Lawfare” as a way to silence to people with whom you disagree. min [6:05] 
• How does SLAPP manifest itself in society? min [7:44] 

Additional Resources  

• Anti-SLAPP Laws Protect Your Right to Speak Out by Billy Easley  
• Can you be sued for your retweets?  by Billy Easley 
• Ep 010 Top Priority | Tech and Innovation Priority Initiative 
• Ep 022 Top Priority | Technophobia 
• Our privacy is on the clock by Billy Easley 
• The Stand Together Community 

Show: 023 Top Priority Podcast | Mark Holden on Criminal Justice Reform 

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guest: Mark Holden, Senior Vice President, Stand Together and Board member of Americans for Prosperity  

• Why does Mark Holden care about Criminal Justice Reform? min [6:20] 
• Mark Starts his career as a prison guard and now finds himself advocating for CJR with Snoop Dog | Koch Industries’ Prison Reform Warrior min [17:01] 

• How serious are the unintended consequences of Overcriminalization? min [30:14] 
• Mark’s good friend Alice Marie Johnson min [36:11] 

Additional Resources  

• Families Against Mandatory Minimums – FAMM 
• Reason Foundation 
• Mark Holden issues a celebratory statement on the first anniversary of the First Step Act 
• Adversaries, Mark Holden and Van Jones, unite to achieve historic criminal justice reform 
• Ep 002 Top Priority | Overcriminalization & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Ep 003 Top Priority | Policing & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Ep 004 Top Priority | Qualified Immunity & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Ep 006 Top Priority | The Trial Process & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Ep 009 Top Priority | The Sentencing Process & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Ep 011 Top Priority | The Prison and Reentry Process & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson 
• Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent by Harvey Silverglate 
• How to Become a Federal Criminal: An Illustrated Handbook for the Aspiring Offender by Mike Chase 
• Radly Balko’s WaPo piece 
• Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces by Radley Balko  

Show: 022 Top Priority Podcast | Technophobia 

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Taylor Barkley, Program Officer of Technology & Innovation, Stand Together  

• The Stand Together vision for Technology & Innovation recognizes: min [6:12] 

1. Technology and innovation have been a force for good throughout human history.  
2. For the benefits to humanity to continue we need a policy and cultural framework friendly to innovation.  

• How do we apply the Stand Together Community VISION— to break barriers that stand in the way of people realizing their potential—to Tech & Innovation? min [22:24] 

• How our Community views Technophobia through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [28:10]  
• How our Community views Technophobia through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [32:20]  
• How our Community views Technophobia through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [45:12] 
• How our Community views Technophobia through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [48:25] 

Additional Resources  

• Ep 010 Top Priority | Tech and Innovation 
• Arthur Diamond on Openness to Creative Destruction on EconTalk with Russ Roberts 
• Openness to Creative Destruction: Sustaining Innovative Dynamism by Arthur Diamond 
• Pessimists Archive  
• Like It or Not, Automation is Coming by Erica Jedynak & Taylor Barkley 
• Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Changing Feelings about Technology from the Telegraph to Twitter by Luke Fernandez 
• Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal 
• Diving into The Shallows by Taylor Barkley 
• THE upload | A tech, policy, and culture blog from the Stand Together community  
• The Stand Together Community 

Show: 021 Top Priority Podcast | Foundational Education
Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy
Guests: Meredith Olson, Vice President of Foundational Education, Stand Together Community

• What is Foundational Education? min [5:30]
• The difference between education and schooling. min [9:27]
• What does good like in Foundational Education? min [14:02] 
• How do we apply the Stand Together Community VISION— to break barriers that stand in the way of people realizing their potential—Foundational Education? [min 21:00]
• How our Community views Foundational Education through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [22:33]
• How our Community views Foundational Education through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [25:25] 
• How our Community views Foundational Education through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [34:08]
• How our Community views Foundational Education through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [37:24]
• The 8 questions Stand Together asks when evaluating educational policy min [40:12]

Does the existing or proposed education policy: 

1.     Allow for a diversity of solutions?

2.     Let families choose what works best?

3.     Allow students to customize their education?

4.     Ensure funding follows the student?

5.     Encourage innovation and experimentation?

6.     Build community support?

7.     Rely on the belief that every kid is capable?

8.     Apply to every student equally?

**Additional Resources**

• Bill of Rights Institute
• Youth Entrepreneurs
• Yes. Every Kid.
• Kids can #LearnEverywhere! 
• Meredith Olson: Unleashing the Unique Potential in Every Kid
• New partnership helps keep students engaged in summer learning
• Ep 020 Top Priority | Post-Secondary Education
• The Stand Together Community

Show: 020 Top Priority Podcast | Post-Secondary Education  

Date Recorded: March 24, 2020

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy

Guests: Ryan Stowers, Executive Director, Charles Koch Foundation

Show Notes & Timestamps

• What is the Stand Together Community doing in the realm of Post-Secondary Education? min [4:04]

A culture of education that unleashes human flourishing must: 

(1) Help people discover who they are as unique individuals—what are their strengths, weaknesses, gifting, and aptitudes  

(2) Encourage people to develop skills and gain knowledge unique to them as individuals

(3) Allow individuals to apply the skills in a way that contributes to others around them in order to progress toward Self-Actualization 

• The STC long-term vision is to create a culture around education where individuals have a dynamic landscape of educational opportunities and a way to create an individualized pathway to learning that is suited and customized to each unique individual. min [7:45] 
• What are alternative forms of credentialing? min [9:45] 
• How our Community views Post-Secondary Education through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [19:05]
• How our Community views Post-Secondary Education through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [21:15]
• How our Community views Post-Secondary Education through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [26:30]

**It is important to embrace and celebrate individual growth that is fostered through disagreement. Growth is at a disadvantage when we disavow Openness.** 

• How our Community views Post-Secondary Education through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [32:45]

**Additional Resource**

• Letter from Ryan Stowers: In the face of crisis, CKF partners and grantees provide innovative solutions 
• Mike Rowe Works Foundation
• Top Craft Development in Wellington, Colo

Show: 019 Top Priority Podcast | Free Trade and the World Trade Organization

Date Recorded: January 28, 2020

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Dan Pearson, Trade Policy Fellow, Americans for Prosperity

Show Notes & Timestamps

• What is the history of the World Trade Organization (WTO)? min [1:00]
• What was the world like before the WTO? What is mercantilism? min [5:22]
• Adam Smith pushed back again Mercantilism with his book The Wealth of Nations. min [6:41] 
• The Wealth of Nations can be summarized into three main themes:

1. Trade, when voluntarily initiated, benefits both parties, not just the exporter.
2. Specialization allows for economies of scale and promotes economic growth.
3. Collusion between government and business is harmful to the general population.

• Did the American Founders favor protectionist tariffs? min [11:05] 
• The two functions of the WTO: min [30:05] 

1. Negotiations
2. Dispute settlements 

**Additional Resource**

• FREE copy of The Law by Frederic Bastiat
• Clashing Over Commerce by Doug Irwin
• The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
• On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation by David Ricardo

Show: 018 Top Priority Podcast | Free Trade Priority Initiative
Date Recorded: November 26, 2019
Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy
Guests: Dan Pearson, Trade Policy Fellow, Americans for Prosperity

Show Notes & Timestamps

• Why is the Stand Together Community involved in the issue of Free Trade? min [4:26] 

Whenever a country restricts its imports, it reduces the freedoms of its own citizens to do business with whomever they want. —Dan Pearson

• Why is Free Trade part of the Stand Together Openness portfolio? min [8:55] • What happens to a society when it is closed off to others? min [11:18]
• What does the Stand Together Community stand for when it comes to Trade? min [13:21]
• Self-sufficiency is the road to poverty and trade is the road to prosperity. —Russ Roberts— min [19:23] 

**Treasure Island: The Power of Trade. Part I. The Seemingly Simple Story of Comparative Advantage
**Treasure Island: The Power of Trade. Part II. How Trade Transforms Our Standard of Living

• If America opens our market to the world—without tariffs, quotas, or barriers—how does that help Americans? min [23:29] 
• What is the China shock? min [35:10]
• What is the reality of Americas exporting power? America is the world’s largest trading company in terms of the value of imports plus exports. min [39:45] 
• What is meant by a trade deficit and is it a meaningful measurement? min [41:05] 
• Individuals and businesses—not bureaucrats and politicians—should guide trade decisions. min [48:12] 

Letting capitalism work has been the route to prosperity for all of mankind. —Dan Pearson— 

• Punitive measures, such as tariffs and quotas, are an unjust government intrusion into the lives of hardworking Americans; they violate the property and associational rights of individuals and should all be eliminated. min [51:15] 
• Subsidies and other forms of government support for powerful and politically connected businesses and individuals do not create value; they punish consumers, burden taxpayers, isolate businesses from market competition and should be eliminated. min [53:20]
• Trade disputes should be solved through existing international trade organizations and agreements. min [58:19]
• How our Community views Free Trade through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [1:18:09]
• Do the laws of economics work for the entire world or just the United States? min [1:18:37] 

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. —Milton Friedman—

**Additional Resource**

• It’s a Wonderful Loaf | A poetic lesson on the wonders of Free Trade 
• I, Pencil: The Movie 
• $1,500 Sandwich Illustrates How Exchange Raises Living Standards by Chelsea Follett 
• Free Trade Under Fire by Douglas Irwin 

Show: 017 Top Priority Podcast | Cronyism

Date Recorded: January 16, 2020

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Michael Lambert, Policy Analyst of Corporate Welfare, Americans for Prosperity

Show Notes & Timestamps

• What is Cronyism? In short, Cronyism is government picking winners and losers. min [2:14]
• Cronyism, as our Community understands it, includes three subsets: min [3:45]

1. Financial handouts to include: subsidies, tax incentives, loan guarantees, and bailouts
2. Regulatory preference to include: monopolies, government mandates,
3. Protectionism to include: tariffs and quotas 

• Through the lens of our Vision, we exist to break barriers, what barriers are created by financial handouts? min [5:05]
• In The Law Frederic Bastiat discusses the seen versus the unseen; what are the unseen costs of government financial handouts to companies like Amazon? min [6:41] 
• How do financial handouts for sports stadiums hurt people in communities? min [10:33] 
• What is the STC perspective on tax credits? min [12:45] 
• How does regulatory preference kill innovation and hurt people? min [14:24] 
• Is Cronyism a set of barriers disguised as opportunities? min [23:17] 
• Government favoritism is a corrupting force because it erodes the belief in voluntary exchange and distorts the power free people in free markets. min [26:17] 
• How our Community views Cronyism through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [28:56]
• How does Cronyism discourage innovation and competition? min [30:36]
• Because of the explosion of innovation, farmers in New Zealand now argue against farm subsidies! min [32:53]  
• How our Community views Cronyism through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [33:37]
• How our Community views Cronyism through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [37:20]
• How our Community views Cronyism through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [38:48]

**Additional Resource**

• FREE copy of The Law by Frederic Bastiat
• FREE copy of Animal Farm by George Orwell: “Some animals are more equal than others.”
• We reject the false choice of being pro-business or anti-business, “Instead [we] oppose when business lobbies government for special favors and rigs the system to protect their profits. This wastes resources, disrespects customers, and is unfair to taxpayers. At the same time, we celebrate principled entrepreneurship that creates real value for people, long term. That’s what we’re after” —Charles Koch—