February 29, 2024
The political world is shifting beneath you. Freedom appears to be fading. Do you understand what’s happening?
Traditional Democrats are fleeing their party. Many of them are sounding more socially conservative.
Meanwhile, Republicans are questioning free trade and calling for industrial policy. They increasingly sound like FDR Democrats.
Oh, and over the last few decades, the Libertarians popularized a Nolan Chart Quiz, demonstrating that the left-right (liberal vs conservative) spectrum was incomplete. David Nolan introduced a second dimension that measured freedom vs authoritarianism. The result was a more diverse and accurate picture of individual ideology.
Nolan’s second axis is based on the political left standing for social freedom, and the political right working for economic freedom. But the purveyors of the most popular Quiz are noticing some strange behaviors.
They’re noticing less freedom too!
We wonder what is happening. That’s why we invited an expert to Gracearchy with Jim Babka…
Stephanie Slade is a senior editor at Reason. She has written articles like “Can Free Markets Win Votes In the New GOP?” and “The Authoritarian Convergence” about the fact that each national party has become less (classically) liberal. We link to four of her most relevant articles in the show notes (in each platform).
Slade is also an expert on “fusionism” — the historical alliance between conservatives and libertarians. Remember when Ronald Reagan said, “Government is the problem?” What happened to that? We asked Stephanie. And you’ll learn her answer by listening to this interview…
OR…
Stephanie Slade is also a scholar for the Acton Institute. Acton is concerned with teaching the moral benefits and workings of free markets to Christians. Slade is herself a Catholic.
Our show went from faith, to fusionism, to political realignment, to the rising illiberalism we are seeing in many places, including the Nolan Chart quiz.
It was fun to discuss what it’s like to be a Christian at Reason (magazine). We covered other topics too, such as Thick vs Thin libertarianism, and why a believer should oppose…
- Government welfare programs.
- Prohibition.
- Having the State inculcate virtue — especially to schoolchildren.
You can listen while you work or drive on these podcasting platforms: Pandora * iHeart * Spotify
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The Zero Aggression Project sponsors and promotes this podcast. In April, we intend to announce big, new plans for this program. So, we’re asking for your financial support — please, start a monthly pledge or make a one-time contribution. Contributions to our parent organization, Downsize DC Foundation, are tax deductible if you itemize.
ZAP The State and have a nice day,
Jim Babka
Host, Gracearchy with Jim Babka
Co-creator, Zero Aggression Project
P.S. We tried to get Stephanie on our program in late 2022. We weren’t able to schedule it, at the time. But we still took one of her recent articles and made it the basis of EP19: Authoritarianism, Polarization, and Illiberalism.
Gracearchy is hosted by Zero Aggression Project’s co-founder, Jim Babka, but the views expressed in the show are not necessarily those of the board, staff, or supporters of the Zero Aggression Project (Downsize DC Foundation).