Self in Society Podcast Ari Armstrong

Matt Zwolinski is professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego and the founder and director of USD’s Center for Ethics, Economics, and Public Policy. Zwolinski is the co-editor of The Routledge Companion to Libertarianism, and he is the co-author, with John Tomasi, of The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism (available April 4 and available for preorder).
This is the Self in Society Podcast #30.
This episode also is available via YouTube.
TIME MARKERS00 Intro0:54 Murray Rothbard, paleo-libertarianism, the “Mises Caucus,” and the meaning of libertarianism4:06 The “family resemblance” among strains of libertarianism6:22 Would Mises be in the “Mises Caucus”? Mises’s liberalism12:57 Baggage with the libertarian label16:46 Locke’s views of property rights23:24 Henry George’s objections to Locke26:23 Property rights as the central conundrum of libertarianism30:18 Limits to Georgism; resources and production38:45 More on resources and production44:29 House values, NIMBYism, and rent-seeking49:35 Strategies to solve “Lockean proviso” problems52:07 Existing property rights as historically problematic58:15 Addressing the U.S. Black/white wealth gap1:00:15 Property generally as making the world a better place1:05:01 Would reparations solve past injustices better than a basic income?1:10:00 Systemic racism: criminal justice and education1:13:49 Libertarian individualism and structural racism1:15:42 Housing policy and structural racism1:17:48 Methodological individualism and social justice1:25:20 Emergent racism1:28:27 The importance of more open immigration; implications for a basic income1:33:15 A basic income as better than the existing welfare state1:41:17 Matt’s forthcoming books on the basic income and exploitation1:42:36 wrap-up
Zwolinski’s professional page offers links to his various books, including The Individualists, which comes out April 4 (available for preorder).
A couple of Zwolinski’s essays on the basic income are available online: “A Moral Case for Universal Basic Income” and “Property Rights, Coercion,and the Welfare State.”
The Routledge Companion to Libertarianism contains the essay mentioned by Zwolinski, “Self-Ownership,” by Daniel C. Russell.
April 4 Update: I published my review of the book.
Music by Jordan Smith.


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Ian Silverii is the former leader of Progress Now Colorado, founder of the political Bighorn Company, and "First Gentleman of Colorado's 7th Congressional District" following the election of his wife Brittany Pettersen.
My main purpose in hosting this conversation was to see if two people with quite different political beliefs could have a civil and productive conversation. I think we accomplished that. Ian is a progressive; I’m a “free market liberal” (I’ll call myself).
This episode contains some swear words.


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Dave Kopel is research director of the Independence Institute in Colorado and a leading attorney on Second Amendment issues. He is the author of Aiming for Liberty: The Past, Present, And Future of Freedom and Self-Defense, Colorado Constitutional Law and History, several other books, and countless articles. This is the Self in Society Podcast #28.
Time Markers00 Intro1:06 U.S. violence in context6:39 Homicides by government8:15 Civilian gun ownership as protective against mass-murder by government11:08 Interlude: Some personal connections11:44 But some governments are better13:44 Governmental violence in Europe15:24 Worrisome signs in the U.S.18:17 Armed racial nationalists as a threat to the country20:41 Bad governments get guns to bad people; Sudan and Venezuela23:03 The German example; gun-owner registration lists24:36 The French example25:14 What’s behind the global rise of authoritarian movements? What is nationalism?27:58 The Russian example30:12 The murders of Hitler, Mao, and Stalin31:00 The Victims of Communism Museum31:15 Deficiencies of American history education; the evil of Communism33:16 The Cuba example34:16 The Marxism of Antonio Gramsci36:24 Ideological takeover of American schools38:04 Guns for personal self-defense43:02 Police responses to crimes44:45 Armed teachers49:49 The movement against armed self-defense50:55 The Second Amendment and individual rights53:09 Background checks and gun-owner registration59:25 "Assault" guns1:04:45 Wrap-up
Kopel’s web site links to his many works. See also his bio page at the Independence Institute.
Kopel discusses his recent article, “Guns Kill People, and Tyrants with Gun Monopolies Kill the Most” (which he summarizes at Volokh). Here is the abstract:
What are the relative risks of a nation having too many guns compared to the risks of the nation having too few guns? Comparing and contrasting Europe and the United States during the twentieth century, the article finds that the United States might have suffered up to three-quarters of million excess firearms homicide over the course of the century—based on certain assumptions made to maximize the highest possible figure. In contrast, during the twentieth century Europe suffered 87 million excess homicides against civilians by mass-murdering tyrannical governments. The article suggests that Americans should not be complacent that they have some perpetual immunity to being subjected to tyranny. The historical record shows that governments planning mass murder work assiduously to disarm their intended victims. While victim resistance cannot necessarily overthrow a tyrannical regime, resistance does save many lives.
Recently Kopel discussed his book on the Colorado Constitution with Jon Caldara.
Kopel discusses William English’s paper, “2021 National Firearms Survey.”
During the discussion Kopel mentioned Antonio Gramsci. We discussed the Victims of Communism museum. I wrote down my thoughts on nationalism in a 2016 article. I quoted Wikipedia on international homicide statistics. I also quoted the Texas Tribune and a union poll about arming teachers. And I mentioned Robert Zubrin’s article about the Russian authoritarian mystic Aleksandr Dugin.


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Sheriff Bill Masters discusses peace keeping and how that relates to the war on drugs. Masters, of Telluride, San Miguel County, is the longest serving sheriff in Colorado history, having taken over the position in 1980. Masters also is the author of the 2001 book, Drug War Addiction: Notes from the Front Lines of America's #1 Policy Disaster (which I helped to edit). This interview was recorded on May 23, 2022, as the Self in Society Podcast #27.
Time Markers00 Intro1:40 On being sheriff for 42 years2:50 Peace keeping vs. law enforcement4:11 What troubles Telluride: crime, rescues, wildfires8:27 Peace keeping through the pandemic10:07 Helping people with mental illness and addictions12:34 Today’s political parties17:48 Being pro-immigrant20:13 The war on drugs27:33 The problem of addiction31:09 When drug distribution is rights-violating33:13 Civil liberties and the drug war40:00 On speaking out40:56 Legal marijuana in Colorado44:06 The promise and problems of body cameras50:54 Peace officers are held liable, judges and legislators aren’t; cigarette example55:11 Laws imply a potential deadly use of force57:20 Telluride’s Covid tourism ban58:34 A sheriff's discretion59:00 An honorable profession; “We need to have fewer laws, not more laws.”1:00:13 The downside of mandated auto insurance1:02:14 The problem of hiring good peace officers1:07:06 What gets rewarded?1:10:14 Oriented to resolving conflicts1:12:36 A need for thorough training1:15:09 Don Coram and the Vietnam veteran1:17:59 Bill's trip on the Nile1:22:03 The charm of Telluride1:23:58 What’s new at the sheriff's office1:27:55 Wrap-up
I mentioned Dwight Radcliff, who holds the record as longest-serving sheriff in U.S. history. (I think Masters is the longest-serving sheriff currently serving in the U.S.)
Masters’s office posts its shared principles.
As I mentioned, a Telluride man was charged with the January 6 Capitol invasion.
CPR ran an article about Masters (which I cite) some years ago.
Eric Garner is the name of the person killed in New York over selling cigarettes.
Colorado passed relatively good asset forfeiture reforms some years ago, but I think they need revisiting, and other states have worse rules about that.
Update: Complete Colorado ran my article summarizing aspects of my discussion with Masters.
Following are a few photos of Masters from around the time of his book publication.
Speaking at the University of Colorado, Boulder:
Speaking at the Cato Institute:
Meeting Cato’s David Boaz:
Touring Washington D. C.:


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Robert Tracinski is the author of the book, So Who Is John Galt, Anyway?: A Reader's Guide to Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged." Tracinski also writes the Tracinski Letter and Symposium at Substack, and he is a columnist for various other publications. This is the Self in Society Podcast #26.
Time Markers00 Intro1:22 Would Any Rand be more concerned with today's "woke" anti-capitalist left or religious ethno-nationalist right?6:06 The collapse of fusionism; Rand's influence on conservatism9:50 Are Objectivists on "the right?"11:47 Trumpists and Putin apologists among Objectivists15:35 Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump as Atlas Shrugged villains19:50 Open vs. Closed Objectivism25:53 Ayn Rand as a liberal29:32 Today's conservative right as anti-liberal35:33 Problems with the welfare state; a baseline of life-serving values43:54 Why a reader's guide to Atlas Shrugged46:07 To what degree are Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk Randian heroes?51:04 And Rand vs. the Stoics59:53 Parental love1:05:29 Should we be optimistic about America's future?1:10:17 Wrap-up
One article of Tracinski’s I found helpful is “Which Way, Western Man?” He also wrote, “Ukrainians Are Nobody's Pawns.”
In 2016 I wrote an article, “Ayn Rand Is the Anti-Trump.”
PopeHat has the parody of Trump.
Sherri and Robert wrote, “10 Amazingly Enjoyable Things About Having Kids.”


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Drawing on her dissertation work on moral habits, philosopher Lisa Thomas-Smith (now at Clemson) discusses the nature of and need for habits, methods for improving our habits, cultural influences on people's habits, recent cultural shifts for better and worse, and more.

Time Stamps
00 Intro
1:02  What moral habits are and why we need them
5:30 Cognitive limits and habits
8:04 Habits of thought and of action
9:33 The power and challenge of changing habits of thought
11:11 The bootsrapping problem of habit change
13:01 Compulsive versus goal-directed habits
15.54 When to ask for help
17:30 Are we more capable of self-formation that Aristotle recognized?
19:51 What is character and how important is it?
24:30 Praise and blame given the power of habit
30:23 Being open to change
36:27 Principles and habits
41:54 Biology and culture
47:43 Rationalist moral theories and habits
53:00 How hard is it to form new habits?
59:12 Changing the environment / Starting with a value
1:05:35 Is our culture getting better at overcoming bigotries?
1:10:31 Troubling cultural signs / Individualism and sociality
1:15:45 Political corruption and distrust
1:22:37 The state of academia
1:29:14 Limited diversity in philosophy
1:34:14 Reaching people when they're young
1:41:00 Ayn Rand, rationality, and habits
1:46:08 What's next / Wrap-up
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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit selfinsociety.substack.com