Political Theory

Recorded at the Mises Institute, May 1994.

Recorded at the 2003 Supporters Summit: Prosperty, War, and Depression.

(39:25)

Recorded at Mises University 2003.

Recorded at the Reassessing the Presidency seminar; March 2004. (44:14)

WWI was a kind of turning point. Bolshevism, National Socialism and fascism are related ideologies which surfaced after the war. Fascism was the wave of the future in 1920 with its notion of government central planning.

Certain themes that relate to the New Deal between 1933 and 1938 ended in 1938 when FDR moved on to repair all the problems of the world, not just the country. The Congress and the people were receptive to all proposals that they thought would benefit them directly. Agencies that were created in the first 100 days were from a mind-boggling assortment of enactments.

Recorded at Mises University 2004.

Several court cases must be mentioned. Each makes a point. Plessey v. Ferguson: Segregation Separate but equal is ok.  Brown v. Board of Education: Separate schools are inherently unequal. Green v. County School Board of New Kent County: Freedom of choice desegregation plan unconstitutional.

Recorded at the Reassessing the Presidency seminar; March 2004. (38:46)

You can’t take Southern secession seriously because of slavery. Illinois is worth pondering because Lincoln supported the laws against blacks because he did not think that free blacks could ever mix with whites. A superior position was assigned to the white race. Lincoln meant every word. He voted against every suggested improvement for blacks. He saw universal emancipation as impossible.