Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast Walker Uhl & Nick Dungey

In the last two years we have seen an explosion in assertion of “absolute freedom” and “absolute rights” in the social and political crisis surrounding vaccines and the government’s authority to mandate vaccines.
Throughout the country, people have asserted an irreducible freedom and an unconditional right to “decide” whether to accept the vaccination.
This is understanding and assertion of freedom and rights are yet another example of an extraordinary confusion about the core philosophical and political ideas that animate the American Political experiment.
In this episode we explore historical and philosophical story surrounding the Modern, and the Modern Liberal notion of Freedom and Natural Rights and, we identify the difference between original and political Freedom, and between Natural Rights and Civil Rights.

"I have longer to please the dead than please the living here." (Sophocles, Antigone). With these chilling words, Antigone sets in motion a Theologico-Political Crisis that will devour the Royal Family of Thebes and shatter the city. The Theologico-Political crisis that constitutes the drama of Sophocles' famous tragedy is a defining condition of Western Civilization, the emergence of Platonic and Metaphysical political philosophy, and the driving force behind the emergence of Modern political philosophy and Liberal Political Philosophy. Indeed, the Theologico-Political crisis is driving force behind the creation of American Liberal Democracy. Now it is back. The recent law banning abortions in Texas, and the silence of the Supreme Court, has initiated a new Theologico-Political crisis that threatens to devour what is left of the American Democratic political experiment. A straight line runs from ancient Thebes to contemporary Texas.

After an extended break, Walker and Professor Dungey return!  In this, "we are back," episode we examine where we are, and identify three main ideas to contextualize what is happening and where we are going.  First, we must always remember that democracies are inherently fragile, and sometimes dangerous.  Second, we discuss the idea that the legal and political institutions and processes of American Democracy are human inventions that are hard to build and hold, but easy to lose.  Third, we discuss the crisis of legitimacy that threatens to dissolve the American political experiment.  We are living in and through the most dangerous times in our economic, social, and political history.  Can a culture without a "center" keep the center from dissolving.

A critical theme running throughout Modern, and Modern Liberal Political Theory is the recognition of, and consequences that result from, the Death or Displacement of God. Ever since Machiavelli Displaced God from the Cosmos and the Human Mind, it has now become necessary for Human Beings to Create the Moral, Economic, and Political Institutions that bring Order, Security, and Peace to Human Life. Humans must now do the Work that God used to do. However, within this extraordinary observation is a fascinating, empowering, and terrifying ambiguity. In our most recent podcast, "Becoming Mortal Gods and the End of Liberal Democracy," we trace the meaning of this ambiguity, and identify both its tremendous power and terrifying consequences. Enjoy!

The Washington Post proclaims: "The GOP Tax Reform is a Scam." As Millions of working and middle class people are discovering that their tax returns are either significantly lower, or, that they actually owe substantial amount of money, they feel conned. And yet, while the recent GOP tax reform does represent one of the largest transfers of wealth in the History of American Politics, and while that transfer of wealth overwhelmingly benefitted the super-rich, nothing has gone wrong. No one has been Conned. In this episode, "The Age of Acquisition and the Perfection of Inequality," we argue that the system worked perfectly. The legal, economic, and political space of American Democracy was designed specifically for the emergence of a "New Aristocracy of Acquisition" that mobilizes inequalities of talent, ability, ambition, and intelligence. The Vulgar are only now learning they are the Vulgar. Enjoy.

As the Institutions and Processes of Government continue to falter and breakdown, another Government Shutdowns looms, and the ominous threat of a Declaration of National Emergency darkens the American sky, we investigate what all three of the phenomena have in common, and how they will contribute to the emergence of an Authoritarian Regime.  In our latest episode, "Government Shutdown, Executive Power, and the Coming Authoritarianism," Walker and Professor Dungey not only investigate what each of these dynamics mean, but also situate each dynamic in the deeper philosophical context of Modern Political Philosophy and it's Liberal variant--the Artificial Nature of Politics and its Inherent Fragility. Enjoy.