Kibbe On Liberty

Matt Kibbe is joined by Rachel Ferguson and Marcus Witcher, authors of “Black Liberation Through the Marketplace,” to discuss the ways in which free markets and free people have done more for racial justice and equality than any top-down government program. While acknowledging that minorities still face real problems with structural racism in the United States, Ferguson and Witcher point out that in most cases these structures are imposed by the government rather than eliminated by them, and the largest reductions in racist policies have come during periods of deregulation. While the social justice crowds tend to demand more and more intervention by the state, they ignore the fact that slavery, segregation, eugenics, and all of the other racially motivated programs were products of a large central government, not of ordinary people. Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637583443

Matt Kibbe sits down with Leopold Ajami, founder of Novel Philosophy Academy, to talk about the philosophy of Ayn Rand and how it can be applied to improve people’s lives in a tangible way. Rand gets a bad rap for her defense of terms like “selfishness,” but in essence her philosophy is all about self-respect and the pursuit of happiness. In an era when young people are surrounded by prosperity and yet feel miserable and oppressed, Rand’s ideas can perhaps provide an antidote to the pessimism and fatalism that are dominating the culture experienced by America’s youth.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Jesse Ramos, community engagement director for AFP-Montana, to talk about the ways in which individuals can make a difference in local politics. So often, our conversations revolve around national institutions like the White House, Congress, and the Supreme Court, but it’s really at the local level where we can best hope to effect real change. Issues like education, property taxes, and the lockdown policies implemented by local health departments can have a dramatic impact on people’s lives, but we can improve those outcomes simply by showing up to city council meetings and getting involved.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Republican congressional candidate Lily Tang Williams to talk about her experiences growing up under Chinese communism and the ways in which the United States is starting to be influenced by the same kinds of authoritarian policies. Mao Zedong’s socialist experiment resulted in 45 million deaths, but young people today have barely even heard of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The lockdown policy during the coronavirus pandemic originated in China, and now the American government is openly pondering a system of vaccine passports that looks a lot like the Chinese social credit system. This is a totalitarian policy that gives the government total control over the degree to which citizens are allowed to participate in their own society.

Matt Kibbe sits down with conservatarian journalist and commentator Olivia Rondeau to talk about the Biden administration’s obsession with fighting alleged disinformation. While lies and propaganda have always been part of public discourse, the sudden focus on policing speech might have more to do with plummeting poll numbers, skyrocketing inflation, the devastation of COVID lockdown policies, shortages, unemployment, and all the other consequences of a backward policy agenda that has left voters high and dry. As a young black conservative woman, Rondeau is in a position to see through all the nonsense of identity politics and game playing leading up to the midterm elections.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to discuss the causes and solutions to the current shortage of baby formula in the United States. It’s mainly the result of an absurd regulatory regime that hinders competition and prevents producers and distributors from meeting the needs of consumers. But rather than dismantling or scaling back those regulations, the administration is engaging in cheap political stunts — including the use of military planes to air drop baby formula from Europe into swing states. The whole incident is a perfect illustration of the inability of a central government to effectively distribute goods in the same way that a free market is capable of doing. The senator also discusses his new book, “Saving Nine,” about the Democratic effort to pack the Supreme Court.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Tony Woodlief, author of "I, Citizen," to talk about how Americans can address political polarization and the increasingly fragmented communities that leave us at each other’s throats. If you only view the country through the lens of social media, you could be forgiven for thinking that the country is on the brink of a civil war. The reality is that we are less divided than we seem. The tendency to break everything down into Left and Right doesn’t actually reflect people’s real attitudes. In reality, most people fall somewhere in the middle, or else have a complex blend of views from both sides of the aisle. The kind of Manichean thinking that reduces everything to red versus blue is what’s dividing us more than our actual views. I, Citizen: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1641772107/

While visiting Prague to attend the New Intellectuals Conference, hosted by the Ayn Rand Center Europe and LibertyCon 2022, Matt Kibbe ran into several young persons from Ukraine who were eager to tell the world about what is going on in their country. It’s shocking to hear about the devastation and ruined cities brought about by the Russian forces. Yet, contrary to all expectations, Vladimir Putin is encountering massive resistance not only from the Ukrainian military, but from the ordinary citizens of the country as well. It’s inspiring to hear these students describe their experiences in occupied Ukraine and proclaim their determination to keep their country free and democratic. As they say, freedom is in Ukrainians’ blood.

Matt Kibbe talks with Tom Palmer, executive vice president for international programs at Atlas Network, along with co-conspirators Andreas Jürgens and Tomek Kolodziejczuk about their efforts to transport badly needed supplies into Ukraine during the Russian invasion. Unwilling to wait for governments to act, Tom, Andreas, and Tomek decided to take matters into their own hands, organizing a network of individuals willing to risk their own safety to bring food, transportation, and body armor to the Ukrainian people. Their actions are a testament to the power of voluntary cooperation and personal responsibility at a time when most of the world is looking for someone else to solve their problems for them.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Deirdre McCloskey, distinguished professor emeritus of economics and of history at the University of Illinois in Chicago, to talk about the language we use as advocates of free market economics. McCloskey points out that economics is essentially a series of metaphors, and that we can best explain its concepts through stories rather than the dry language of academia. Meanwhile, certain jargon or stigmatized terms like “capitalism” are doing more harm than good when it comes to helping people understand why the freedom to innovate makes life better for everyone.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Glenn Beck, author of "The Great Reset: Joe Biden and the Rise of 21st-Century Fascism." They talk about the gatekeepers of the internet who suppress ideas, news, and stories that do not fit the mainstream narrative. Glaring similarities can be seen to China’s model of a social credit system—both in free speech online and the pandemic lockdowns, when so many of our freedoms were stolen in the name of safety.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Jeremy Kauffman, CEO of Odysee and LBRY, to talk about how Blockchain can provide a safe haven for free speech online through alternate social media platforms. Because of its decentralized nature, Blockchain-based services can’t be censored or tampered with in the same way that other websites can, with the implication being a freer, more secure internet in the future. Of course, this also means that the government is eager to crack down on this technology, as it poses a threat to its ability to control communications.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Jenin Younes, litigation counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, to discuss the jarring reversal of the Biden administration and other Democratic politicians regarding COVID-19 and lockdown policies. As empirical evidence and public support for their positions evaporated, the “follow the science” crowd appeared to lose interest in a subject that has preoccupied them for two years, declaring victory over the virus apropos of nothing other than poor polling data and a desire to change the subject prior to the midterm elections.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Dan Caldwell, vice president of foreign policy at Stand Together, to discuss the increasingly fervent calls for U.S. intervention in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Too many armchair pundits fail to realize the catastrophic implications of a conventional war with Russia, or the fact that it is ultimately the Ukrainian people who will pay the greatest price for a prolonged conflict rather than a diplomatic solution. Additionally, calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine fail to take into account what enforcing such a policy would actually mean and how quickly the situation could escalate into an all-out global war. All this goes to show how little politicians in Washington have learned from the country’s costly, multi-decade interventions in the Middle East and that the military-industrial complex will be deterred by neither evidence nor common sense.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Logan Albright, head writer at Free the People and author of Conform or Be Cast Out, to discuss the numerous and varied evils of the nation's least favorite tradition: Daylight Savings Time. Bad for your health and unjustified by any objective metric, the process of springing forward and falling back also demonstrates man's hubris in trying to put a whole nation out of sync with the natural rhythms of the Earth and sun. Meanwhile, a new bill being ushered through Congress, The Sunshine Protection Act, would apparently rid us of this blight once and for all, yet, in typical government fashion, might actually make things even worse. Conform or Be Cast Out: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1789048427/

Matt Kibbe is joined by Phil Magness, senior research faculty at the American Institute for Economic Research, to discuss critical race theory, with specific reference to the New York Times’ 1619 Project. The 1619 Project is an effort to frame all of American history as a story of oppression and slavery, yet it’s a mess of sloppy research, poor scholarship, and intellectual dishonesty more concerned with pushing a political agenda than with uncovering the true facts about our nation’s history. The Times has even sunk so low as to alter articles without issuing retraction notices to cover up factual inaccuracies or to remove citations of “problematic” scholars, including Magness’ own work on Abraham Lincoln.

Matt Kibbe and Blockchain technologist Cody Marx Bailey continue their discussion of the secure, decentralized technology that has the potential to change the world. Blockchain provides solutions to major problems in trust and communication for people all over the planet, regardless of what their political or economic situations look like. And while governments tend to be hostile to any system that liberates individuals from their control, from a practical perspective there’s not much they can do to stop it.

Matt Kibbe sits down with Blockchain technologist Cody Marx Bailey to discuss the implications of decentralized Blockchain technology to create a freer, more liberated future. Since no one owns or controls the Blockchain, no one can shut it down. At a time when governments are shutting down individuals’ bank accounts and censoring information on the internet, the potential for a solution that is entirely immune to political power would be a true game-changer.

Matt Kibbe is joined by Phil Magness, senior research faculty at the American Institute for Economic Research, to discuss the rapidly changing narratives on COVID-19. Since the release of the Great Barrington Declaration and all the criticism leveled at it, many of the predictions made two years ago have proved correct. The attempts to suppress misinformation now look incredibly foolish, given that the “misinformation” turned out to be right, and the official narrative turned out to be wrong.

Seventy two hours into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Matt Kibbe checks in with Nataliya Melnyk, Director of Bendukidze Free Market Center based in Kyiv. Nataliya has been in the city since the war began, and she offers a unique boots-on-the-ground perspective of the conflict that now puts her directly in peril. Amid warning sirens heard from her apartment, she discusses the history of Ukraine’s relationship with Russia, what Vladimir Putin is really after, and why the citizens of Ukraine have taken up arms to defend their home from Russian troops.