Kibbe On Liberty

Matt Kibbe is joined by the entire Free the People staff to celebrate another year fighting for freedom. The group discusses work they have done on criminal justice reform, pushing back against critical race theory and, most importantly, combatting the narrative of authoritarian lockdowns that have dominated 2020. Despite recommendations from Fauci and others, it’s never been more important to gather with your loved ones to rejoice that this miserable year is finally ending.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Matthew Crawford, author of “Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road,” to discuss driving as a metaphor for American individualism, independence, and competence. Crawford is concerned that as fewer young people learn to drive and traditional cars are replaced with driverless ones, we’re in danger of losing something fundamentally human. There comes a point when we value safety and convenience so highly that we abandon much of what makes life worth living in the first place. Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062741969

Matt Kibbe is joined by BackWordz frontman Eric July to talk about a whole slate of government policies that are proving unbelievably destructive for the black community. From pandemic lockdowns that drive artists and small business owners out of business to the explicitly racist history of labor regulations like the minimum wage, big government always oppresses those with the least power in society.

Economists Deirdre McCloskey and Alberto Mingardi sit down with Matt Kibbe to discuss their new book, “The Myth of the Entrepreneurial State.” In everything from pandemic management and trade agreements to public investment in art and science, we see again and again that the government is no substitute for the spontaneous order of motivated and visionary entrepreneurs. People tend to assume that government action will be more effective because it’s organized by experts and coordinated from the top down, but everything good about society actually comes from the more organic process of people working together to solve problems voluntarily. The Myth of the Entrepreneurial State: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1630692093

Matt Kibbe is joined by the Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro, a legal scholar and author of the new book “Supreme Disorder,” to talk about how and why the Supreme Court has become so relentlessly politicized and dangerously powerful over the years. As the two major political parties engage in an arms race to weaponize the court against each other, we’ve forgotten that the proper role of the judiciary is as a third coequal branch of government, designed to check the other two from running rampant over the Constitution. Instead, we now have a political football that has broad implications for how ordinary Americans are allowed to live their lives.

Matt Kibbe is joined by biochemical engineer Ivor Cummins, who has been studying the science behind the COVID-19 lockdown mandates that have been the defining feature of 2020. His conclusion? There is none! Cummins shows that there is no evidence of lockdowns reducing virus transmission or death rates, while there is plenty of data showing that depression, suicide, domestic violence, and substance abuse are all way up as a result of government “helping.” There’s a stubborn refusal among policymakers to acknowledge that tradeoffs exist and the cure can be worse than the disease, even when countries like Sweden show us that this particular cure appears to be wholly ineffective.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), author of the new book “Bigfoot... It's Complicated,” to get to the bottom of what underlies belief in this majestic, mythical beast. In addition to outlining the four major theories on the nature of Bigfoot, Riggleman explains how belief systems can be weaponized and lead to disastrous outcomes. As a former intelligence analyst, he has personally seen the bloodshed resulting from dogmatic beliefs and conspiracy theories that, in some ways, resemble the mindset of the Bigfoot true believers. Bigfoot... It's Complicated: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1478751258

Matt Kibbe is joined by Patrick Byrne, founder and retired CEO of Overstock.com, to hear his shocking insider’s perspective on how senior officials in the Obama administration orchestrated the “Russiagate” narrative starting in 2015. Strap in for a wild ride, including an attempted sting operation targeting Hillary Clinton’s alleged acceptance of bribes from foreign governments. In an eyewitness account that seems stranger than fiction, Byrne blows the whistle on the deep state, declaring: “We need to unf**k our government.”

Matt Kibbe sits down with Father Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute. There’s a lot of talk lately about giving workers “dignity,” as if a higher minimum wage or government-run health care can accomplish this. Father Sirico points out that respect for individual liberty and self-determination is the only way to allow people to realize the intrinsic dignity that exists in every person. It’s not something that can be granted by a government agency. Through a series of colorful anecdotes, Father Sirico shows that while collectivist governments can trample on our rights, they can’t offer us something we already possess by the very nature of our humanity.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Kelley Vlahos, senior adviser with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, to talk about the military-industrial complex and its commitment to permanent war. Vlahos gives a rundown of all the key players advocating for more foreign intervention and resisting efforts to bring our troops home and out of harm’s way. They also discuss whether Donald Trump’s professed desire to get out of Afghanistan is genuine and realistic or whether it’s just another political ploy.

Matt Kibbe talks with Todd Hagopian, Libertarian candidate for Oklahoma corporation commissioner, about the increasingly fractured nature of America’s political parties. The nastiness of primary contests and the rise of different factions within the Republican and Democrat Parties points toward a seismic shift that could be coming in the near future. At the same time, third parties are getting marginalized and excluded from debates and even polls, as the political duopoly tries to retain its power.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Hanna Waugh, Libertarian candidate for Lake County Commissioner, to talk about politicians' abusive relationship with the American people. We excuse their bad behavior, put them on a pedestal, and continue to vote for them even as they break their promises, lie to us, and disrespect the Constitution. Waugh also talks about the importance of transparency, accountability, and respect in political campaigns.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen to talk about the dumpster fire debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden and find out why third parties aren’t allowed to share the stage. Jorgensen argues that the two major parties are threatened by competition, since they each have little to offer the American people. They also discuss political tribalism, media bias, and why vodka doesn’t taste like anything.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Nobel laureate economist Vernon Smith to talk about how the market process is not only efficient, but also encourages communities to peacefully cooperate. The misconception about laissez-faire economics is that it’s ruthless and Darwinian, but Smith shows through his own experimental work that free markets foster morality and consideration of others far more than top-down systems like socialism. They also dig into the legacy of Adam Smith, the first person to fully explain these ideas to the Western world.

Matt Kibbe sits down with P.J. O’Rourke, author of “A Cry from the Far Middle,” to talk about the polarization of 21st-century America. O’Rourke’s brand of commonsense centrism holds that it’s bad to give anyone too much power, especially the government, but that we’ve lost these basic truths as we spend more time on social media playing politics as a team sport. The problems that George Orwell warned us about have ultimately become self-inflicted, but that also means that we can reverse them if we put our minds to it. A Cry from the Far Middle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802157734

Matt Kibbe sits down with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to discuss the upcoming series, “The Constitution: Line by Line.” Everywhere we look, we see government exceeding its authority, imposing harmful regulations, and delegating power to unfireable bureaucrats, or as the senator calls it, “emergency socialism.” As a scholar and student of the Constitution, Mike Lee is the perfect person to point out the importance of our nation’s founding document in defending liberty in 2020.

Hannah Cox, conservative commentator and writer, sits down with Matt Kibbe to talk about criminal justice reform, the 2020 presidential election, and the Black Lives Matter protests. Although everybody’s talking about fixing problems with police and the justice system in general, no one is actually doing it, with both parties fielding candidates apparently uninterested in creating real solutions.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Gary Collins, author of “The Simple Life,” to figure out why people are struggling to find happiness in 21st-century America. Since our immediate needs for food and shelter have been met, we must dig a little deeper to find our place in life. From his off-the-grid home, Collins argues that all you really need is to stay healthy, get out of debt, and find a purpose that gets you out of bed in the morning. He also shares Kibbe’s passion for the music of Rush and the inspirational lyrics of Neil Peart.

Dr. Ron Paul sits down with Matt Kibbe deep in the heart of Texas to discuss his intellectual influences and his political history. He talks about his education in Austrian economics, which explains why government intervention in the economy, particularly through the Federal Reserve, makes us all poorer and less free. He also turns his attention to current events, explaining why the U.S. can’t seem to get out of any wars and why the government’s coronavirus response has been worse than useless.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Patrick Mardini, founder of the Lebanese Institute for Market Studies, to talk about the recent explosion that rocked the port of Beirut, killing hundreds. It turns out that a big part of the problem was mismanagement by the Lebanese government, which at the same time has created a massive recession, incurred huge amounts of debt, and devalued the currency to the point where 80 percent of locals' savings have been wiped out. Mardini concludes with some free market reforms that could start to improve the country's long-term outlook.