#350 Libertarians. A New Understanding. Nick Gillespie

All too often political movements are defined by their opponents. That is especially true for libertarians who are often labeled as uncaring— far more concerned with the individual than society. In this episode, we get a mostly positive view of what libertarians stand for and also why they oppose both the populist domination of the Republican Party and the leftward tilt by Democrats.

Our guest Nick Gillespie is editor at large of Reason Magazine, which has the motto "free minds and free markets." He's co-author of the book, “The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong With America,” and host of “The Reason Interview” podcast. 

In this episode we discuss six main topics— What is a libertarian, public education and school choice, inflation, the role of billionaires in society, Ukraine & foreign policy, and the controversial Disinformation Governance Board.

"I value individual choice. I devalue coercion," Nick tells us. "I believe in a smaller state than we have now... I want people to be able to make as many meaningful choices in their lives as possible."

Recommendation: Jim has great enthusiasm for birding and science, and is reading "The Most Perfect Thing" about the science and natural history of bird eggs by Chenghui Ju, David C. Lahti.