In this episode, we discuss Mikhail Bakunin's excerpt from Michael Malice's book, "The Anarchist Handbook". We have a lot of thoughts, mostly discussing where Bakunin contrasts Marx and the ways Bakunin reminded Matt of Murray Rothbard. A fun discussion that covers a lot of ground.

Beyond Talking Points

Ep. 66 - Bakunin vs. Marx and State Socialism (Michael Malice's Anarchist Handbook #5)

On this episode, Matt and Matt discuss Chapter five of Michael Malice's "Anarchist Handbook", an excerpt from Herbert Spencer's "Social Statics". In it Spencer talks about the right to defy/ignore/withdraw from the state's authority. We talk about that as well as what secession would look like in the United States. Inevitably, we talk about if any government policy is ever good - lots of fun rabbit holes we chase in this one.

Ep. 65 - Herbert Spencer, Resisting The State (Michael Malice's Anarchist Handbook #4)

In this episode Beyond Talking Points, the Matts talk about Michael Knowles' case for censorship from a conservative standpoint, and how that relates to our ideas on free speech in general. This leads us into discussions around big tech and other hypothetical scenarios when speech could or should be restricted.

Ep. 64 - Michael Knowles and The Conservative Case For Censorship

In this episode of Beyond Talking Points, Matt and Matt continue their deep-dive into Michael Malice's "Anarchist Handbook". This episode is about Chapter 4, an excerpt from Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's "The Confessions of a Revolutionist", published in 1850. Proudhon was the first person to call himself an anarchist, and is also considered the founder of Mutualism, an ideology which Proudhon thought was "the synthesis of communism and property". This brings up some meta-commentary on the differences between "left anarchists" and people like Noam Chomsky. We map out some of the differences that seem to reveal large rifts between different types of anarchists and statists.

Ep. 63 - Proudhon On Anarchy, Mutualism (Michael Malice's Anarchist Handbook #3)

Matt and Matt discuss chapter three of Michael Malice's Anarchist Handbook, an excerpt from Max Stirner's "The Ego and Its Own". The episode starts off with where we agree and disagree with Stirner's philosophy, and then the conversations leads to more discussion about individualism and collectivism.

Ep.62 - Max Stirner, Egoism, Collectivism(Michael Malice's Anarchist Handbook #2)

On this episode, we start breaking down "The Anarchist Handbook" chapter by chapter. We begin with chapter two, which is an excerpt from "Enquiry Concerning Political Justice" by William Godwin about the social contract. Matt and Matt had different reactions to Godwin's arguments in the sense of how it should be framed and examined. We ended up getting bogged down in wanting to have different conversations surrounding Godwin's arguments. We decided to present the episode regardless (and there are a few insights/arguments that we successfully engage with), let the audience decide how much of a success or failure it was, and attempt to do better next week with Stirner!

Ep. 61 - Godwin's "Of The Social Contract" (Michael Malice's Anarchist Handbook #1)

In the sixtieth episode of Beyond Talking Points, Matt and Matt discuss the Austrian School of Economics. Matt Keck is a proponent of Austrian Economics, and Matt H is only beginning to go beyond the basics in the field of economics. Matt H, therefore, absorbs some Austrian economics content, and pelted Matt K with a thousand and one questions. We hope this gives the audience a greater understanding about these issues. We touch on several things such as scarcity, human action, interest rates, inflation, the Austrian Business Cycle, and misallocation of resources.

Ep. 60 - Austrian Economics In One Lesson

5/28/2021 - In the fifty-ninth episode of Beyond Talking Points, we have a conversation that sprang out of an inside joke: "Marxist" Matt will one day become a neo-conservative someday because Ancap Matt sees parallels between his co-host's worldview and the Buckleyites. This leads to a very general discussion on war, imperialism, an analysis of neoconservatism as an ideology, and the role that public intellectuals have in the many wars that the US has found itself in.

Ep. 59 - Imperialism, Neoconservatism, and Public Intellectuals

5/20/2021 - In the fifty-eighth episode of Beyond Talking Points, Matt and Matt use a video of the late psychiatrist Thomas Szasz as a starting point for a discussion on psychiatry, and the mental health field as a whole. Does mental illness exist? Is it morally permissible to hold people against their will in a psychiatric institution? These questions and more are explored here. This is not necessarily an outright political topic, but it is a relevant and polarizing topic.

Ep. 58 - On Thomas Szasz And His Critique Of Psychiatry

5/13/2021 - In the fifty-seventh episode of Beyond Talking Points, Keegan (aka EssentialSalts) joins the Matts to discuss Universal Basic Income, an idea popularized by former Presidential candidate and current candidate for mayor of NYC Andrew Yang. But we begin with Thomas Paine's 1797 pamphlet "Agrarian Justice". In that pamphlet, Paine proposed UBI for anyone older than 21. In this way, we cover both the first principles behind the policy, the economic costs and benefits related to UBI, and the practical issues and implications that would go into implementing such a policy.

Ep. 57 - Andrew Yang, Thomas Paine, and Universal Basic Income (ft. Keegan)

5/6/2021 - In this episode of Beyond Talking Points, Matt and Matt have a wide ranging conversation about rhetoric, language, and propaganda. We had two jumping off points: we had both read the George Orwell essay "Politics and the English Language" and we've had a long standing disagreement about the importance of political pundits using charged language.

Ep. 56 - Politics, Language, and Propaganda

4/29/2021 - In this episode, Matt and Matt discuss their intuitions about the value of discussing politics and policy. Is there value of discussing the issues that we argue about every week?

Ep. 55 - Do Politics Actually Matter?

4/23/2021 - In this episode of Beyond Talking Points, Matt and Matt discuss an Intelligence Squared debate on the question of student loan forgiveness. These conversations are always a tightrope walk between abstract general principles and specific policy positions and the material implications of each policy. But as usual, I like to think these podcasts allows us--and allows the audience--to think more deeply and to consider the opposing viewpoint.

Ep. 54 - Should Student Loans Be Forgiven?

4/14/2021 - In this episode of Beyond Talking Points, Matt and Matt talk about their opinions related to guns and gun control. Ancap Matt is a big supporter of gun rights and very anti-gun control. Ancomm Matt is torn between philosophically supporting gun rights and also believing that certain freedoms should be limited for the greater good of the community. This discussion is comparatively civil to a few recent episodes.

Ep. 53 - On Guns And Gun Control

In this episode, Matt and Matt begin the show by talking about their general thoughts related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But then we get into a broader conversation regarding the justness of political violence. This episode is very broad and isn't a substitute for knowing the history of the conflict. This is mostly our reactions to the general narratives for both sides and our reactions.

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Beyond Talking Points

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