The Students

The Students
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  • Philosophy

Discussions on history, philosophy, politics, science, and civilizational questions. We're here to learn.

  1. 2h ago

    Why We Need Economic Depressions

    Ben Landau-Taylor and Wolf Tivy deal with industrial growth. Standard economic theories model growth as continuous marginal improvements, and seek stability. Schumpeter explains growth is a destructive "history of revolutions" which cause chaos.0:00 — Intro1:23 — Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy3:35 — Creative destruction and natural monopolies11:09 — How natural selection works in capitalism15:11 — Clearing out the dead wood22:17 — Eliminating depressions has slowed development28:57 — The degenerative ratchet in our political economy37:00 — Hope comes from circumvention, not reform41:26 — Where can circumvention come from?49:39 — Extropy

    54 min

  2. Jun 24

    The Youth Revolution Isn't For Us

    Samo Burja and Wolf Tivy cover gerontocracy. Generational youth politics are a dead end: the "youth" will be old by the time they take power. Change can come only from empowering new classes willing to gamble on their own "nepo babies".

    1h 7m

  3. Jun 17

    How To Join The San Francisco Intellectual Scene

    San Francisco is the capital of the online networks where today's new ideas are born. It's an excellent place for a sensitive young man with something to say. Ben and Wolf describe how the scene works and how to break in.

    1h 1m

  4. Jun 10

    Napoleon Won

    Napoleon built the institutions of the modern state—especially the military. This was best analyzed by Napoleon's enemy Clausewitz, who studied war on the opposite side of the battlefield. Napoleon's armies were defeated, but his system and his spirit are still with us.

    58 min

  5. Jun 3

    Ideology Is Conspicuous Consumption

    Thorstein Veblen tells us how elites display their superiority by showing off their cultivated taste and skill, which in turn displays their economic power, and ultimately their capacity for violence. Veblen was very upset by this. But you don’t have to be. 0:00 - Intro 4:40 - The structural purpose of leisure 14:05 - The macroeconomics of respectability: Conspicuous leisure and vicarious leisure 21:38 - What are the naturally honorable leisure activities? 27:16 - How today’s leisure class was created 36:30 - The new counterculture’s opportunity 40:48 - Downward social mobility and the spurious leisure class 42:50 - The inevitability of hierarchy and the failure of egalitarian experiments 50:06 - How do we channel conspicuous leisure to prosocial purposes again?

    57 min

  6. May 27

    Your Life is a Hypothesis

    The Earth has become small -- and the Last Man lives the longest.In 1885, Nietzsche foresaw mankind's transformation into a being who cares only for safety and contentment -- the final step before he gives up his higher nature. Jonathan Wallis joins Wolf Tivy to help us understand the Last Man.0:00 — Intro0:32 — The greatest threat is not disorder but the Last Man3:39 — Radical potential is always recuperated, domesticated, defanged16:46 — Cults reenact the logic of modernity23:45 — You have to live the hypothesis37:20 — Civilization is the ability to pass the crown51:34 — There is no soul-atom; you are an intersection of forces

    1h 2m

  7. May 20

    Machiavelli's Virtue

    Machiavelli saw that Christianity had made Italy weak, servile, and prey to criminal men. His answer: ground politics in "what is", not imagined republics — and dare great men to act on it. The consequences founded the modern world. Duncan Umphrey joins us to discuss the Machiavelli's virtue.

    1h 12m

  8. May 13

    The Machine Gun Killed Democracy

    Ben Landau-Taylor discusses Carroll Quigley's thesis on how weapons systems shape political order—how military technology determines whether a society ends up democratic, authoritarian, or something else entirely.

    1h 18m
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Discussions on history, philosophy, politics, science, and civilizational questions. We're here to learn.

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  • Creator
    The Students
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
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    © The Students
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